Book Review: Dark Flame (The Immortals #4) by Alyson Noel

Summary:
At the start of this mesmerizing new installment of the Immortals series, Ever is helping her friend Haven transition into life as an immortal. But with Haven drunk on her new powers and carelessly putting them all at risk, their friendship becomes more and more strained. At the same time, Ever delves deeper into magick in order to get control over her enemy Roman and free Damen from his power. But when the spell she casts on Roman backfires, she’s bound to her deadliest enemy. Frantic to reverse the spell the moment the moon enters a new phase, she finds her efforts are fruitless—there’s a strange, foreign pulse coursing through her, one that propels her toward Roman. Desperate to break free of this terrible curse before Damen or the twins can discover what she’s done, she turns to Jude and delves deeper and deeper into dark magick, ultimately risking everything she knows and loves—including Damen.

Review:
Alyson Noel has done it again!  Dark Flame was every bit as good as Evermore and Blue Moon, if not better.  I was somewhat disappointed reading Shadowland and I was worried Dark Flame would be on the same level.  I'm not saying that Shadowland was bad, it was just an okay read to me---not nearly as good as the first two books in the series.  Shadowland felt a little flat...the  slowest book in the series, in my opinion.


I am so happy to be proved wrong!  The same hypnotic writing, intense relationships, and plot twists that I loved in Evermore are at play here.  I want to say more but don't want to include spoilers.  If you were afraid of being turned off to The Immortals series by Shadowland, like I was, make no mistake about it:  Dark Flame signals the return of this series to must-read status.

According to Alyson Noel's website, book five in the series, Night Star, is coming out November 16, 2010. I really like how Noel is releasing her books so quickly.  It's wonderful not having to wait a year or more to find out what happens next!


Just One Gripe:
I like when you can find the title of a book somewhere in its content.  I start to get somewhat perturbed when the author throws the title in multiple times.  I think we read about the dark flame inside of Ever at least six, if not more, times. 

The Best Thing About This Book:
I love the immortals premise.  It's unique and very well executed.

Appropriate for a younger audience:
Yes

Score:
Characters:  4/5
Plot:  4/5
Setting/Imagery:  4/5
Originality:  5/5
Ending:  3/5
Total Score:  20/25




3 comments:

  1. Yay! Glad to know it's a good read. I'm just about to order it. I love The Immortals series. Funnily enough though, Blue Moon has been my least favourite of the series so far, but I loved Shadowland! I think it depends on what kind of mood I'm in when I read them! ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love that... "the dark flame inside Ever" does not sound like it's a phrase that bears repeating. Kind of like Bella and the "gaping hole" in her chest in New Moon. By the time the book was through, I'd been reminded of the metaphorical hole so often, I wondered if it was becoming a real physical attribute.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Leana,
    That's funny that we felt so differently about the two books. You're right, maybe I need to give Shadowland another chance...

    Tiger,
    Yes, exactly like Bella's gaping hole. That was so funny, I was laughing so much when I read your comment!

    Thank you both for the comments!

    ReplyDelete

Word verification stinks--- but spammers are worse. Thank you for your patience!