Blue Moon by Alyson Noël

Title: Blue Moon	Loved it	Graded
Author: Alyson Noël
Genre: Paranormal
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Elements: Resurrection
Series: Book 2 of The Immortals series

Eager to learn everything she can about her new abilities as an Immortal, Ever turns to her beloved Damen to show her the way. But just as her powers are increasing, Damen's are waning.

In an attempt to save him, Ever travels to the magical dimension of Summerland, where she learns the secrets of Damen's tortured past; a past which he has always kept hidden from her.

But in her quest to cure Damen, Ever discovers an ancient text that details the workings of time.

Now Ever must chose between turning back the past and saving her family from the accident that claimed their lives - or staying in the present and saving Damen, who grows sicker every day...

Warning: There is a massive amount of spoilers ahead. MASSIVE. Do not continue reading if you have not read Blue Moon. Because what I'm going to say? It's not so nice.

So you still chose to continue reading? Good. Let's start.

Blue Moon starts off with Ever and Damen making out, and Ever not having the guts to cross The Line. It may have been 400 years for Damen (not that he spent that time in celibacy) but for Ever it's only been what? A few months? Considering the fact that Ever was always killed before doing the deed, one would have thought that they'd get it over and done with now that Drina's gone. Still, for Ever, losing her virginity is a big deal. (It should be a big deal.) I'm wondering if they'll ever sleep together. Look at their history, there's bound to be something else stopping them, at least until near the end of the series. Really. Maybe they'll finally do it in Shadowland. Blue Moon? Not so much.

In this case, the barrier comes in the form of jolly newcomer Roman (Romen? What's with all the 'E's?). It's not that there's a love triangle, at least not in the traditional sense. Everyone in their high school likes him, everyone that is, except for Ever. He just rubs her the wrong way. He rubs ME the wrong way too, what with the underlying sleazyness. He's like a pesky, persistant salesman, that guy. Since he came around, Damen's been getting sick and everyone's being buddy buddy with everyone else. For example, Haven becomes buddy buddy with the irritating Stacia who loved to shun her.

And the best part? Everyone loves everyone else...except Ever. They all hate Ever, even her irritating "best friends", who look at Ever like she's some sort of disease. Call me prejudiced, but I always thought that the friendship between Ever and Haven and that-guy-whose-name-I-always-forgot-other-than-the-fact-that-he's-fabulously-gay* rang false.

Their choice to ditch Ever, even if they're being mind controlled, just proves that theory. How easy for them to do that! You'd think that some feeling of loyalty would be there, but no! And oh, that Haven. She's one of the most irritating and horrible best friends I've ever read about. She's always jealous of Ever and wanting what she doesn't have (Roman over Josh, her boyfriend. Hello! Ungrateful, much?), and seriously, the ploy for getting attention is getting old and it. is. just. no. freakin'. excuse. Get over yourself, girl! It's no wonder you're never satisfied!

The storyline continues in that vein for most of the book, and it was a fast read, if vaguely unbelievable and depressing. Ever stops moping around and finally takes it upon herself to find out what's happening, why Damen's being an ass to her ("Damen, who grows sicker every day..." Tsk. Sicker in his mind, maybe. Ass. Is his love for her really that small? Does he just want to get in her pants, because really, that's his first thought after being affected by said mind control.) and everyone's acting all weird. It was hard to read Blue Moon at that part. Ever's feeling of isolation was just so intense that I had to put the book down and spend some time in happy people's company.

The ending left me feeling all sorts of WTF. Ever's considering sacrificing herself to save Damen and the horribestfiends, and she gives touching goodbyes to them. But her aunt Sabine who's been there for her always? Natch. Nothing. Nada. You're not as important to her as those two backstabbing $%^&#@, Sabine. Okay, I won't elaborate so much on the ending.

Alyson Noel is a great writer, and her writing is engaging as always. However, the characters in Blue Moon felt severely lacking to me, whether it's the fact that they deviated so much from the previous book, Evermore,  and did so many things out of the ordinary or the fact that there was no character growth to be seen in some of the cases.

Let's just say that I'm hoping things will turn out better in Shadowland, probably the hell equivalent of Summerland. Things are getting to be so intense, and I'm really hoping that Ever will put Haven in her place, appreciate Sabine more and learn some kick ass fighting moves. And for Damen's sake, stop moping around!

EDIT 17 November 2009: After reading an interview about the research Alyson Noel did for series, I have to say that I'm impressed both by her dedication and visual descriptions in the book. I'd love to see more about how it all works.

*Is there a depressed, emoish gay guy best friend in books? I want to read that book.