Playing Catch Up has really been helping me through my ever growing TBR list. I'd like to welcome all other blogs to participate too! If you do, be sure to post your links in the comments section. I'd love to see your Playing Catch Up Reviews, and I'm sure others would too!! *wink*
Genre: Young Adult (Paranormal Romance)
Date Published: November 17, 2009
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Ever and Damen have gone through countless lives and fought off the world’s darkest enemies so they could be together. But just when an everlasting future is finally within their reach, Damen is struck down by a curse—a dark spell separating him and Ever for eternity. Now sharing so much as a single touch could bring about Damen’s death…and send him plummeting into the Shadowland, an eternal abyss for lost souls. Desperate to break the curse and save Damen, Ever immerses her herself in magick. And in her quest, she gets help from an unexpected source...a surfer named Jude.
Although she and Jude have only just met, he feels startlingly familiar. Despite her fierce loyalty to Damen, Ever is drawn to Jude, a green-eyed golden boy with magical talents and a mysterious past. She’s always believed Damen to be her soulmate and one true love—and she still believes it to be true. But as Damen pulls away to save them from the darkness inhabiting his soul, Ever’s connection with Jude grows stronger—and tests her love for Damen like never before…
Shadowland is the third book in The Immortals series by Alyson Noel. I was a little disappointed with this book. It just fell flat somewhere along the way for me. I didn't feel the chemistry between Ever and Damon. So much so that I started to root for Jude a little, but I didn't feel much of the chemistry there either. Ever and Damon seemed to be making bad decision after bad decision. I guess I'm still mad at Ever's friends too, mostly Haven. To me, they just don't seem like great friends. I feel like there's this unspoken competition or jealousy of sorts between them. Maybe it's just me. Roman carried this story. His personality stood out heaps above the others this time around. Anyways, Shadowlands kept my attention, but there wasn't much forward movement in regards to the plot, so maybe this book was meant to solely be a Jude introduction. I'm not sure. I would like to learn more about him in upcoming books though. There's something intriguing about the characters. I love how they all have intertwining histories. I feel like this is all going somewhere..building towards something, I'm just not sure what that is yet.
Alyson Noël is the #1 New York Times best-selling, award-winning, author of 23 novels including: The Immortals, The Riley Bloom, and The Soul Seekers series.
With 8 New York Times bestsellers in 2 years, and over 8 million copies in print, her books have been translated into 36 languages, sold in over 200 countries, and have made the New York Times, USA Today, LA Times, Publishers Weekly, Wall Street Journal, NCIBA, and Walmart Bestsellers lists, and have won numerous awards such as: the National Reader's Choice Award, NYLA Book of Winter Award, NYPL Stuff for the Teenage, TeenReads Best Books of 2007, Reviewer's Choice 2007 Top Ten, appeared on the CBS Early Show's "Give the Gift of Reading" segment, and selected for Seventeen Magazine's "Hot List" and Beach Book Club Pick.
Chosen as one of OC Metro magazine’s “20 Women to Watch,” she’s been nominated for the Orange County Business Journal’s “Women in Business Awards” as well as their “Excellence in Entrepreneurship” award. The dramatic rights for The Soul Seekers are optioned to Cheyenne Enterprises and Traziende films; the dramatic rights to Saving Zoë are optioned to actresses/producers Ellen Marano, Vanessa Marano (Switched at Birth), Laura Marano (Austin & Ally), with Jeffrey G. Hunt (Vampire Diaries, Gotham) directing; dramatic rights to The Immortals are optioned to Gil Adler (Valkyrie, Constantine) & Jason Rosenberg.
Her new YA series, Beautiful Idols, beginning with Unrivaled, had a global release in 17 languages and 200 countries on 05.10.16. Her new MG, Five Days of Famous, is set to debut 12.13.16.
Born and raised in Orange County, California, she’s lived in both Mykonos and Manhattan and is now settled back in Southern California.
To learn more about Alyson Noel and her books, visit her website & blog.You can also find her on Goodreads, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.
"Everything is energy."
Damen's dark eyes focus on mine, urging me to listen, really listen this time. "Everything around us—" His arm sweeps before him, tracing a fading horizon that'll soon fade to black. "Everything in this seemingly solid universe of ours isn't solid at all—it's energy—pure vibrating energy. And while our perception may convince us that things are either solid or liquid or gaseous—on the quantum level it's all just particles within particles—it's all just energy."
I press my lips together and nod, his voice overpowered by the one in my head urging: Tell him! Tell him now! Quit stalling, and just get it over with! Hurry, before he starts talking again!
But I don't. I don't say a word. I just wait for him to continue so I can delay even further.
"Raise your hand." He nods, palm out, moving toward mine. Lifting my arm slowly, cautiously, determined to avoid any and all physical contact when he says, "Now tell me, what do you see?"
I squint, unsure what he's after, then shrugging I say, "Well, I see pale skin, long fingers, a freckle or two, nails in serious need of a manicure . . ."
"Exactly." He smiles, as though I just passed the world's easiest test. "But if you could see it as it really is, you wouldn't see that at all. Instead you'd see a swarm of molecules containing protons, neutrons, electrons, and quarks. And within those tiny quarks, down to the most miniscule point, you'd see nothing but pure vibrating energy moving at a speed slow enough that it appears solid and dense, and yet quickly enough that it can't be observed for what it truly is."
I narrow my eyes, not sure I believe it. Never mind the fact that he's been studying this stuff for hundreds of years.
"Seriously, Ever. Nothing is separate." He leans toward me, fully warmed up to his subject now. "Everything is one. Items that appear dense, like you, and I, and this sand that we're sitting on are really just a mass of energy vibrating slowly enough to seem solid, while things like ghosts and spirits vibrate so quickly they're nearly impossible for most humans to see."
"I see Riley," I say, eager to remind him of all the time I used to spend with my ghostly sister. "Or at least I used to, you know, before she crossed the bridge and moved on."
"And that's exactly why you can't see her anymore." He nods. "Her vibration is moving too fast. Though there are those who can see past all of that."
I gaze at the ocean before us, the swells rolling in, one after another. Endless, unceasing, immortal—like us.
"Now raise your hand again and bring it so close to mine we just nearly touch."
I hesitate, filling my palm with sand, unwilling to do it. Unlike him, I know the price, the dire consequences the slightest skin-on-skin contact can bring. Which is why I've been avoiding his touch since last Friday. But when I peer at him again, his palm face out, waiting for mine, I take a deep breath and lift my hand too—gasping when he draws so close the space that divides is razor thin.
"Feel that?" He smiles. "That tingle and heat? That's our energy connecting." He moves his hand back and forth, manipulating the push and pull of the energy force field between us.
"But if we're all connected like you say, then why doesn't it all feel the same?" I whisper, drawn by the undeniable magnetic stream that links us, causing the most wonderful warmth to course through my body.
"We are all connected, all of us made of the same vibrating source. But while some energy leaves you cold and some leaves you lukewarm, the one that you're destined for? It feels just like this."
I close my eyes and turn, allowing the tears to stream down my cheeks, no longer able to keep them in check. Knowing I'm barred from the feel of his skin, the touch of his lips, the solid warm comfort of his body on mine. This electric energy field that trembles between us is the closest I'll get, thanks to the horrible decision I made.
"Science is just now catching up with what metaphysicians and the great spiritual teachers have known for centuries. Everything is energy. Everything is one."
I can hear the smile in his voice as he draws closer, eager to entwine his fingers with mine. But I move away quickly, catching his eye just long enough to see the look of hurt that crosses his face—the same look he's been giving me since I made him drink the antidote that returned him to life. Wondering why I'm acting so quiet, so distant, so remote—refusing to touch him when just a few weeks before I couldn't get enough. Incorrectly assuming it's because of his hurtful behavior—his flirting with Stacia, his cruelty toward me—when the truth is, it has nothing to do with that. He was under Roman's spell, the entire school was. It wasn't his fault.
What he doesn't know is that while the antidote returned him to life, the moment I added my blood to the mix it also ensured we could never be together.
Never.
Ever.
For all of eternity.
"Ever?" he whispers, voice deep and sincere. But I can't look at him. Can't touch him. And I certainly can't utter the words he deserves to hear:
I messed up—I'm so sorry—Roman tricked me, and I was desperate and dumb enough to fall for his ploy—And now there's no hope for us because if you kiss me, if we exchange our DNA—you'll die—
I can't do it. I'm the worst kind of coward. I'm pathetic and weak. And there's just no way I can find it within me.
"Ever, please, what is it?" he asks, alarmed by my tears. "You've been like this for days. Is it me? Is it something I've done? Because you know I don't remember much of what happened, and the memories that are starting to surface, well, you must know by now that wasn't the real me. I would never intentionally hurt you. I'd never harm you in any way."
I hug myself tightly, scrunching my shoulders and bowing my head. Wishing I could make myself smaller, so small he could no longer see me. Knowing his words are true, that he's incapable of hurting me, only I could do something so hurtful, so rash, so ridiculously impulsive. Only I could be stupid enough to fall for Roman's bait. So eager to prove myself as Damen's one true love—wanting to be the only one who could save him—and now look at the mess that I've made.
He moves toward me, sliding his arm around me, grasping my waist and pulling me near. But I can't risk the closeness, my tears are lethal now, and must be kept far from his skin.
I scramble to my feet and run toward the ocean, curling my toes at its edge and allowing the cold white froth to splash onto my shins. Wishing I could dive under its vastness and be carried by the tide. Anything to avoid saying the words—anything to avoid telling my one true love, my eternal partner, my soul mate for the last four hundred years, that while he may have given me eternity—I've brought us our end.
I remain like that, silent and still. Waiting for the sun to sink until I finally turn to face him. Taking in his dark shadowy outline, nearly indistinguishable from the night, and speaking past the sting in my throat when I mumble, "Damen . . . baby . . .there's something I need to tell you."
Damen's dark eyes focus on mine, urging me to listen, really listen this time. "Everything around us—" His arm sweeps before him, tracing a fading horizon that'll soon fade to black. "Everything in this seemingly solid universe of ours isn't solid at all—it's energy—pure vibrating energy. And while our perception may convince us that things are either solid or liquid or gaseous—on the quantum level it's all just particles within particles—it's all just energy."
I press my lips together and nod, his voice overpowered by the one in my head urging: Tell him! Tell him now! Quit stalling, and just get it over with! Hurry, before he starts talking again!
But I don't. I don't say a word. I just wait for him to continue so I can delay even further.
"Raise your hand." He nods, palm out, moving toward mine. Lifting my arm slowly, cautiously, determined to avoid any and all physical contact when he says, "Now tell me, what do you see?"
I squint, unsure what he's after, then shrugging I say, "Well, I see pale skin, long fingers, a freckle or two, nails in serious need of a manicure . . ."
"Exactly." He smiles, as though I just passed the world's easiest test. "But if you could see it as it really is, you wouldn't see that at all. Instead you'd see a swarm of molecules containing protons, neutrons, electrons, and quarks. And within those tiny quarks, down to the most miniscule point, you'd see nothing but pure vibrating energy moving at a speed slow enough that it appears solid and dense, and yet quickly enough that it can't be observed for what it truly is."
I narrow my eyes, not sure I believe it. Never mind the fact that he's been studying this stuff for hundreds of years.
"Seriously, Ever. Nothing is separate." He leans toward me, fully warmed up to his subject now. "Everything is one. Items that appear dense, like you, and I, and this sand that we're sitting on are really just a mass of energy vibrating slowly enough to seem solid, while things like ghosts and spirits vibrate so quickly they're nearly impossible for most humans to see."
"I see Riley," I say, eager to remind him of all the time I used to spend with my ghostly sister. "Or at least I used to, you know, before she crossed the bridge and moved on."
"And that's exactly why you can't see her anymore." He nods. "Her vibration is moving too fast. Though there are those who can see past all of that."
I gaze at the ocean before us, the swells rolling in, one after another. Endless, unceasing, immortal—like us.
"Now raise your hand again and bring it so close to mine we just nearly touch."
I hesitate, filling my palm with sand, unwilling to do it. Unlike him, I know the price, the dire consequences the slightest skin-on-skin contact can bring. Which is why I've been avoiding his touch since last Friday. But when I peer at him again, his palm face out, waiting for mine, I take a deep breath and lift my hand too—gasping when he draws so close the space that divides is razor thin.
"Feel that?" He smiles. "That tingle and heat? That's our energy connecting." He moves his hand back and forth, manipulating the push and pull of the energy force field between us.
"But if we're all connected like you say, then why doesn't it all feel the same?" I whisper, drawn by the undeniable magnetic stream that links us, causing the most wonderful warmth to course through my body.
"We are all connected, all of us made of the same vibrating source. But while some energy leaves you cold and some leaves you lukewarm, the one that you're destined for? It feels just like this."
I close my eyes and turn, allowing the tears to stream down my cheeks, no longer able to keep them in check. Knowing I'm barred from the feel of his skin, the touch of his lips, the solid warm comfort of his body on mine. This electric energy field that trembles between us is the closest I'll get, thanks to the horrible decision I made.
"Science is just now catching up with what metaphysicians and the great spiritual teachers have known for centuries. Everything is energy. Everything is one."
I can hear the smile in his voice as he draws closer, eager to entwine his fingers with mine. But I move away quickly, catching his eye just long enough to see the look of hurt that crosses his face—the same look he's been giving me since I made him drink the antidote that returned him to life. Wondering why I'm acting so quiet, so distant, so remote—refusing to touch him when just a few weeks before I couldn't get enough. Incorrectly assuming it's because of his hurtful behavior—his flirting with Stacia, his cruelty toward me—when the truth is, it has nothing to do with that. He was under Roman's spell, the entire school was. It wasn't his fault.
What he doesn't know is that while the antidote returned him to life, the moment I added my blood to the mix it also ensured we could never be together.
Never.
Ever.
For all of eternity.
"Ever?" he whispers, voice deep and sincere. But I can't look at him. Can't touch him. And I certainly can't utter the words he deserves to hear:
I messed up—I'm so sorry—Roman tricked me, and I was desperate and dumb enough to fall for his ploy—And now there's no hope for us because if you kiss me, if we exchange our DNA—you'll die—
I can't do it. I'm the worst kind of coward. I'm pathetic and weak. And there's just no way I can find it within me.
"Ever, please, what is it?" he asks, alarmed by my tears. "You've been like this for days. Is it me? Is it something I've done? Because you know I don't remember much of what happened, and the memories that are starting to surface, well, you must know by now that wasn't the real me. I would never intentionally hurt you. I'd never harm you in any way."
I hug myself tightly, scrunching my shoulders and bowing my head. Wishing I could make myself smaller, so small he could no longer see me. Knowing his words are true, that he's incapable of hurting me, only I could do something so hurtful, so rash, so ridiculously impulsive. Only I could be stupid enough to fall for Roman's bait. So eager to prove myself as Damen's one true love—wanting to be the only one who could save him—and now look at the mess that I've made.
He moves toward me, sliding his arm around me, grasping my waist and pulling me near. But I can't risk the closeness, my tears are lethal now, and must be kept far from his skin.
I scramble to my feet and run toward the ocean, curling my toes at its edge and allowing the cold white froth to splash onto my shins. Wishing I could dive under its vastness and be carried by the tide. Anything to avoid saying the words—anything to avoid telling my one true love, my eternal partner, my soul mate for the last four hundred years, that while he may have given me eternity—I've brought us our end.
I remain like that, silent and still. Waiting for the sun to sink until I finally turn to face him. Taking in his dark shadowy outline, nearly indistinguishable from the night, and speaking past the sting in my throat when I mumble, "Damen . . . baby . . .there's something I need to tell you."
Also, check out my reviews of the other books in this series!
With 8 New York Times bestsellers in 2 years, and over 8 million copies in print, her books have been translated into 36 languages, sold in over 200 countries, and have made the New York Times, USA Today, LA Times, Publishers Weekly, Wall Street Journal, NCIBA, and Walmart Bestsellers lists, and have won numerous awards such as: the National Reader's Choice Award, NYLA Book of Winter Award, NYPL Stuff for the Teenage, TeenReads Best Books of 2007, Reviewer's Choice 2007 Top Ten, appeared on the CBS Early Show's "Give the Gift of Reading" segment, and selected for Seventeen Magazine's "Hot List" and Beach Book Club Pick.
Chosen as one of OC Metro magazine’s “20 Women to Watch,” she’s been nominated for the Orange County Business Journal’s “Women in Business Awards” as well as their “Excellence in Entrepreneurship” award. The dramatic rights for The Soul Seekers are optioned to Cheyenne Enterprises and Traziende films; the dramatic rights to Saving Zoë are optioned to actresses/producers Ellen Marano, Vanessa Marano (Switched at Birth), Laura Marano (Austin & Ally), with Jeffrey G. Hunt (Vampire Diaries, Gotham) directing; dramatic rights to The Immortals are optioned to Gil Adler (Valkyrie, Constantine) & Jason Rosenberg.
Her new YA series, Beautiful Idols, beginning with Unrivaled, had a global release in 17 languages and 200 countries on 05.10.16. Her new MG, Five Days of Famous, is set to debut 12.13.16.
Born and raised in Orange County, California, she’s lived in both Mykonos and Manhattan and is now settled back in Southern California.
To learn more about Alyson Noel and her books, visit her website & blog.You can also find her on Goodreads, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.
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