Immortal by Gillian Shields

Okay, first off, I want to apologize to my readers. I have been saying forever (at least like, 7 months) that this was a historical paranormal...well, I was told wrong. It's not. There ARE historical elements, but it is mainly a contemporary read. I apologize if I misled anyone, read on for my review of this book.

With her mother dead, father deployed overseas, and her grandmother ill, Evie Johnson has no choice but to attend Wyldcliffe Abbey, an all girls boarding school. Stripped of any electronics, the girls live a rigid and strictly controlled life under the mistresses at Wyldcliffe. Evie, unaccustomed to their practices and bullied by the cousin of the dead girl whose place she took, finds solace in a mysterious boy who meets her at night outside by the lake. But there's much more to Sebastian than meets the eye...

Immortal is a book that packs in a lot between its pages: strange old powers, a mysterious guy, journal entries from a girl who lived over 100 years ago, a menacing secret society, a strange disappearance, family secrets...is your head spinning yet? However, Shields does a commendable job at connecting all of these elements in a complex storyline that is unique and interesting...it’s just a bit underdeveloped and hard to follow. Many things in Immortal are lacking or just fall flat; the romance between Evie and Sebastian isn't that interesting, and Evie goes back and forth between loving and hating him so many times, readers will lose track. The book moves slowly and is in danger of losing readers until about 200 pages in when a few new twists are thrown in. From then on out, everything is rushed to a very quick, vague showdown and then finished off with an odd, abrupt ending.

Immortal does have some redeeming qualities: the mistresses of Wyldcliffe are genuinely creepy and do scare the reader a bit, and Shields' plot is very unique. Immortal might have been a bit more enjoyable if there had just been more to it, if things had been developed a bit more, or perhaps a bit more focused. The ending is open, hinting at a sequel, but whether or not this reader will pick it up is still up in the air.

Cover Comments: I am in love with this cover! I like the water as the background to the necklace, both of which have meaning in the book. I love the texture of the ripples, and the mysterious, antique look of the necklace. The font of the title is just okay, but I think it works well with the cover!