Review: Forevermore by Cindy Miles

Title: Forevermore
Author: Cindy Miles

Genre: YA Paranormal
Publisher: Point

Length: 288 pages
Original Publishing Date: June 25th, 2013
Series: Standalone
Where I got it: NetGalley

Links: Goodreads Amazon Author's Website

Synopsis from Goodreads:
 

"On a misty cliffside, mystery and romance await. . . .

Ivy Calhoun's life has been turned upside down. Her new stepdad has uprooted Ivy and her mom, bringing them to live in an actual castle in the misty Scottish countryside. There are stone-faced servants and shadowy corridors, and the ancient walls seem full of secrets. Ivy is at once frightened and intrigued.

Especially when she meets Logan, a gorgeous, elusive ghost who has haunted the castle grounds for decades. Ivy is immediately drawn to him . . . but Logan is not the only spirit around. Something dark and deadly is afoot, and soon Ivy finds herself in mortal danger.

Is Logan exactly what he seems? Could his mysterious past be tied to Ivy's present? And can Ivy stop herself from falling in love with him?"

 
Main characters: 3/5

Ivy was pretty rad. She's a violin prodigy who loves 80s punk and has pink hair. And she had a really good head on her shoulders. The cool thing about Ivy is that I found myself picturing myself in her footsteps a lot, mostly for the way she interpreted the situations she was put in. I wish there had been a little bit more background/complexity to Ivy.

Secondary characters: 3/5

In contrast to Ivy's level-headedness, Logan was good-hearted but didn't know how to interact with Ivy at first. I didn't get a lot of insight or depth about Logan other than the fact that he was a musician too (he played the flute). It would have been cool to learn more about Logan. Niall and Ivy's mom get a little bit of a backseat in this novel, which is disappointing. They're actually some cool parents and I like how we learn more about Niall and see him develop as a new stepfather. Ivy's friend Emma was spunky and fun. The speed with which Ivy made friends with her was a little quick, especially given her earlier characterization.There was actually a pretty big cast of secondary characters for a pretty quick and easy to read book. Most of them were fairly well developed but a few could have used a little bit more time (the twins, the Munro family, etc.)

Writing style: 4/5

Miles has a way with illustrating the Scottish landscape incredibly well. Her descriptions aren't too dense and are easy to read but the visual illustrations are fantastic. I could imagine everything in my head which is so important to me as a reader. The pacing was also pretty darn impeccable. Right as I started to get tired of any one given scene, we moved right along.

Plot: 3.5/5
I adored the Scottish setting and especially how Miles used the setting so centrally in the plot. The plot/conflict itself had a lot of elements that I'd never seen before. Some of the plot itself wasn't explained quite to the fullest extent however so I was left with some question marks. Other things were explained at the very end which felt like an information dump.

Ending: 2.5/5

A little bit cheesy for my tastes but I liked the place that all the characters ended in and the final scene was pretty cool too. In a dream world, there would have been a bit more complexity to the ending as well.

Best scene: Any of the beginning scenes where Logan and Ivy first interact


Positives: Ivy and her awesome hair/violin/punk, cool plot elements, Scotland, writing style


Negatives: Underdeveloped and large secondary cast of characters, some cheesy parts, the end


Cover: Not exactly my taste, but I like that we get a good look at our main characters and the castle is pretty.


Verdict: Entertaining and light, Forevermore had a notable main character, setting and some cool plot points. 


Rating: 6.4/10 (4 stars)


What I Was Listening To: 
I think I found out about Ron Pope in high school and this is one of the first songs I heard. It's absolutely gorgeous and everyone should listen!


Your Thoughts: Have you read it? What did you think? If you haven't, will you be adding it to your TBR list? Let me know!

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