Gillian Shields
**** 4 Stars
"Wyldcliffe Abbey School for young ladies is elite, expensive, and unwelcoming. When Evie Johnson is torn from her home near the sea to become the newest scholarship student, strict teachers, snobbish students, and the oppressive atmosphere of Wyldcliffe leave her drowning in loneliness.
Evie's only lifeline is Sebastian, a mysterious and attractive young man she meets by chance. As Evie's feelings for Sebastian blaze with each secret meeting, she begins to fear that he is hiding something about his past. And she is haunted by by glimpses of a strange, ghostly girl - a girl who is so eerily like Evie she could be a sister. Evie is slowly drawn into a tangled web of past and present she cannot control. As the extraordinary, elemental forces of Wyldcliffe rise up like the mighty sea, Evie is faced with an astounding truth about Sebastian, and her own incredible fate." (summary from book jacket.)
Immortal is a very good book, though the story line is typical there is something twisted and dark about this secret romance. Like darkness is hiding in the shadows of every page turned, ready to leap out, out of the text and drape you in an opaque blackness. It is a great story to read by the sea because there are a lot of watery images from her memories of the ocean. It is very descriptive and seemingly more vivid when by a big puddle of water yourself.
But the reasons I gave it a four star, were because some times you knew what was coming next. You don't want that in a book, you want a surprise at every turn. It gave you the sense you had read the book before. Another thing, was some parts of the text were too cheesy. The main character would get too poetic, I mean if someone you care about is about to die, for example, you don't add cheesy similes in with your thoughts of panic and horror. She's only 16, I don't know any typical teens who are poetic in their thoughts, let alone their every day lives(i am sorry to those poetic teens out there this is very stereotypical) . Also the love scenes were way too cheesy, she fell in love with him too fast. And the way she thinks of him gives me headaches.
But other than that it was a pretty good book, even though it looks and sounds like I gave it a harsh rating, I found it very refreshing a guarantee you will too. Its like a modern version of Romeo and Juliet mashed with Pride and Prejudice than mixed together with some random elemental fantasy. So I recommend Immortal, no matter how cheesy.
-Olivia
