Shimmer by Alyson Noël (A Riley Bloom Book)

Publisher:  Square Fish / St. Martin's Press
Pages:  208

(Released:  March 15, 2011)

From the Cover:

Having solved the matter of the Radiant Boy, Riley, Buttercup, and Bodhi are enjoying a well-deserved vacation. When Riley comes across a vicious black dog, against Bodhi’s advice, she decides to cross him over.

While following the dog, she runs into a young ghost named Rebecca. Despite Rebecca’s sweet appearance, Riley soon learns she’s not at all what she seems. As the daughter of a former plantation owner, she is furious about being murdered during a slave revolt in 1733. Mired in her own anger, Rebecca is lashing out by keeping the ghosts who died along with her trapped in their worst memories.

Can Riley help Rebecca forgive and forget without losing herself to her own nightmarish memories?

Riley Bloom is supposed to be on vacation.  The Council kindly agreed that after her last assignment which she pulled off without a hitch, Riley and Bodhi needed time off and to get to know each other.  But, when they arrive at Riley's dream vacay spot, something else is waiting for them.  It comes in the form of a large black dog, a HellHound.  Riley simply cannot have the beast wondering around, frightening people half to death.  She's determined to cross the dog or else.  What Riley finds when she goes in search of the dog is more than she expected.  Rebecca, a ghost too long left on her own and on the Earthly plane, manifests the worst experience in Riley's life and lets her relived it time and time again.  Then, Rebecca entraps Bodhi and Buttercup in their worst nightmares, and it's up to Riley to free them, and not only them, but the hundreds of other souls Rebecca was trapped in her evil web of hatred and anger.  And now, she'll have to worry about the Council again, because this was not what she was supposed to be doing...

Shimmer by Alyson Noël is another excellent addition to Ms. Noël's growing number of YA reads for both teens and preteens.  In Shimmer, we once again find Riley, the forever to be twelve sister to Ever Bloom from the Immortals series.  While Ever was called back to the Earthly plane and allowed to live, the rest of her family, including the family dog, Buttercup, dies and crosses over to the Here & Now.... except for Riley.  It takes her a while to give up the Earthly desires and Ever, her older sister and the one person she wanted to be just like.  When she finally see she needs to move on, Riley joins the rest of her family and begins her other existence as a Soul Catcher.  In the first book of the series, Radiance, Riley discovers what her new purpose is and get her first taste of a Soul Catcher by crossing the Radiant Boy.  In Shimmer, Riley isn't working with the Council, she hasn't been assigned to retrieve the souls desperate for release from their Rebecca imposed prison, but she exerts her "free will" and follows what she knows in her heart to be the right thing.  Now, if only she can convince the Council she was trying to help instead of being obnoxious and strong willed, that is when she returns to the Here & Now, and she's dreading being summoned.

Shimmer is a great read for grades 4 and up. As an adult reader, I was turning the pages of this quick little read, hoping Riley would find her way, as well as saving Bodhi, Buttercup, and all the others.  And there is a moment in time where she's trapped and has to save herself first, I found myself cringing along with Riley, but hoping for the best.  This is an easy read for the younger readers and an intriguing read for the older readers.  Riley was always one of my favorite characters, and her story is being laid out for us, bit by bit in every book.  I highly recommend this series for younger readers, and those who feel young at heart.  There's always a positive message left behind, and even when there's conflict, it's age appropriate and resolved the same way.  If you haven't read Radiance (Book One), I'd recommend picking it up, but it's not necessary to read these books in order, each book can stand alone, Shimmer (Book Two) has enough background given to easily be enjoyed.  YA lovers everywhere, if you enjoy the Immortal series, pick up Riley Bloom's series, Radiance and Shimmer, you won't be sorry, it's an excellent read for every age.  Riley's adventures will continue in Dreamland (Book Three).

(Release Date:  September 13, 2011)

 

From the Cover:

Riley’s finding that the afterlife can be a lonely place when all you do is focus on work. So she goes to the place where dreams happen, hoping to find a way to contact her sister, Ever. She meets the director, who tells her about the two ways to send dreams. 

As a Dream Jumper, a person can jump into a dreamer’s dream, share a message, and participate. As a Dreamweaver, an entire dream can be created in a studio and sent to the dreamer. But Dreamweaving was outlawed decades ago, and the studio was boarded up. 

Thinking it’s her only way to reach out to her sister, Riley goes in search of the old studio. There she finds a ghost boy, who’s been creating and sending nightmares to people for years. In order to stop him and reach out to Ever, Riley is going to have to confront and overcome her own fears. 

Book Trailer:

I receive this book from the publisher, St. Martin's Press for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Promo ~ Shimmer by Alyson Noël

Publisher:  St. Martin's Press / Macmillan Children's Publishing Group

Pages:  208

(Release Date:  March 15, 2011)

Having solved the matter of the Radiant Boy, Riley, Buttercup, and Bodhi are enjoying a well-deserved vacation. When Riley comes across a vicious black dog, against Bodhi's advice, she decides to cross him over. While following the dog, she runs into a young ghost named Rebecca. Despite Rebecca's sweet appearance, Riley soon learns she's not at all what she seems. As the daughter of a former plantation owner, she is furious about being murdered during a slave revolt in 1733. Mired in her own anger, Rebecca is lashing out by keeping the ghosts who died along with her trapped in their worst memories. Can Riley help Rebecca forgive and forget without losing herself to her own nightmarish memories?







I loved Radiance, can't wait to take a peek at Shimmer!

Find out more about Shimmer here, including audio excerpts and Riley's diary:

http://www.alysonnoel.com/radiance/shimmer.php

Link to trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZqW7rJyvDU

Radiance by Alyson Noël

Publisher:  St. Martin's Press
Pages:  183

From the Cover:

Welcome to the Here & Now

Riley Bloom  left her sister, Ever, in the world of the living and crossed the  bridge into the afterlife—a place called Here, where time is always Now.  Riley and her dog, Buttercup, have been reunited with her parents and  are just settling into a nice, relaxing death when she's summoned before  The Council. They let her in on a secret—the afterlife isn't just an  eternity of leisure; Riley has to work. She's been assigned a job, Soul  Catcher, and a teacher, Bodhi, a curious boy she can't quite figure out.

Riley, Bodhi, and Buttercup return to earth for her first assignment,  a Radiant Boy who's been haunting a castle in England for centuries.  Many Soul Catchers have tried to get him to cross the bridge and failed.  But he's never met Riley...

Riley has finally accepted her fate.  Leaving her sister, Ever, behind on the Earth plane, she's accepted her fate, her death, her place in the Here.  She joined her parents, grandparents, and Buttercup, her loving Golden Labrador, in the place across the bridge.  A place without time, where only in the Here is the Now, or as she thinks of it, the Here & Now.

Just when she thinks that it all manifests, goofing off, doing whatever she likes; she finds out she has to go back to school, and not only that, but she has a job to do, and a guide, Bodhi, to show her how to do it.  And her first job is a doozy....


Radiance by Alyson Noël is the story of Riley Bloom, after she decides to cross the bridge from the Earth plane and Summerland, after she leaves Ever.  Because, she cannot go on forever tagging along behind her big sister, watching her grow and change, and never being able to change with her.  Riley will be forever and always, twelve years old.  She'll never be a teenager, never grow up, never grow... well, you know, her chest is so flat is almost sunken in.  After accepted her fate, and moving on with her death, she finds out she has a job to do, with a boss she doesn't much like, as a Soul Catcher.  She's assigned to guiding souls across the bridge to the Here. But no one tells her what it's going to be like, what she'll experience, how to act.  And then when she has to watch Bodhi suffer, all she can do is hope.

Radiance is one of those books that, no matter what kind of day you've had, it makes you feel better.  It's marketed to an YA audience, and I would go even further, it would be an excellent middle grade book, and I'd encourage school libraries to acquire this book, it would make an excellent addition to any school library, excellent for their reading program.  There is a slightly familiar world to the readers of the Immortals Series, but different enough that it makes the story unique.  Riley is one of my favorite characters from the Immortal Series, so I was happy to see her story being told.  She's an irascible character, not opposed to causing a little trouble or speaking her twelve year old mind.  And you know what, when she has something to say, it's usually a truth that needs to be heard or a lesson she has learned by her own weary experience.  I'd highly recommend this book to all readers, regardless of your age, fantasy lovers everywhere.  It's fun, with enough explanations for a younger group of readers to enjoy, but with a story that all readers will fall in love with.  Alyson Noël has rarely if ever disappointed me, and Radiance is no exception.  I'll be looking forward to Shimmer in March 2011.

(March 15, 2011)

From the Cover:

Having solved  the matter of the Radiant Boy, Riley, Buttercup, and Bodhi are enjoying  a well-deserved vacation. When Riley comes across a young ghost named  Rebecca, Riley soon learns Rebecca's not at all what she sees.

The  daughter of a former plantation owner, she is furious about being  murdered during a slave revolt in 1733. Mired in her own anger, Rebecca  is keeping the ghosts who died along with her trapped in their worst  memories. Can Riley help Rebecca without losing herself to her own  nightmarish memories?

Radiance by Alyson Noël Arrives!

Publisher:  Macmillan Children's Publishing Group
Pages:  192

(Release Date:  8/31/10)

From the Cover:


Riley Bloom left her sister, Ever, in the world of the living and crossed the bridge into the afterlife—a place called Here, where time is always Now. Riley and her dog, Buttercup, have been reunited with her parents and are just settling into a nice, relaxing death when she's summoned before The Council.

They let her in on a secret—the afterlife isn't just an eternity of leisure; Riley has to work. She's been assigned a job, Soul Catcher, and a teacher, Bodhi, a curious boy she can't quite figure out.

Riley, Bodhi, and Buttercup return to earth for her first assignment, a Radiant Boy who's been haunting a castle in England for centuries. Many Soul Catchers have tried to get him to cross the bridge and failed. But he's never met Riley...

I WANT THIS BOOK NOW, I DON'T WANT TO WAIT!!!!

Take a peek at the book trailer.... you'll want it too!

Blue Moon, The Immortals, Book 2 by Alyson Noël

Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Pages: 284


From the Cover:

Alyson’s Noël’s bestselling Immortals series has been hailed as “addictive” “beautiful” “haunting” and “mesmerizing.” In the second installment, Ever can bring her family back from the dead—but only if she’s willing to sacrifice the guy she loves more than life itself.

Just as Ever is learning everything she can about her new abilities as an immortal, initiated into the dark, seductive world by her beloved Damen, something terrible is happening to him. As Ever’s powers are increasing, Damen’s are fading—stricken by a mysterious illness that threatens his memory, his identity, his life.

Desperate to save him, Ever travels to the mystical dimension of Summerland, uncovering not only the secrets of Damen’s past—the brutal, tortured history he hoped to keep hidden—but also an ancient text revealing the workings of time. With the approaching blue moon heralding her only window for travel, Ever is forced to decide between turning back the clock and saving her family from the accident that claimed them—or staying in the present and saving Damen, who grows weaker each day...

Ever's life can't get much better, well, that's a lie. She's lost her entire family including her dog, Buttercup, but since she can't undo time, her life is the best that it can be. She really misses her bratty kid sister, but Riley has promised to send a sign from the great beyond, and as yet, Ever hasn't heard or seen anything from her. Sometimes, she wishes that Riley had have stayed, but Ever knows in her heart that it was time for Riley to move on. Even the ghost of a little sister was better than none though.

What saves Ever's existence from being a total nightmare is the love of her life, Damen. He's so patient and sweet, he has loved her for more than 400 years, through many lifetimes of heartache and misfortune. He has watched her died over and over again. But with Drina's death, Ever's life can bloom into an immortal existence along with his.

But, what neither knows is that Drina isn't the only rogue immortal who's infected with hatred and an existence beyond the bounds of humanity. When Roman come into their lives, he is bent on destruction. With the loss of his own unrequited love, Drina, he has vowed that Ever and Damen will be cursed to not know the love both have been seeking throughout history.

In one mighty swoop, Roman turns Ever's life into a living hell. All of her friends are no more, Damen can't remember why she was important to him in the first place, and Summerland has become a mysterious place more baffling than it is beautiful. How will Ever make it right? How will she right Roman's insanity?

Blue Moon by Alyson’s Noël is an excellent addition to the Immortal Series. As we learn more about Damen's existence before Ever, the hardship that was his life before the immortal juice and the orphans that surrounded him to Ever's present day, we discover that a person who isn't perfection. It is only after meeting Ever's incarnation that he strives to achieve what he seemingly cannot have, a life with Ever that could be perfection.

In Blue Moon, just as we think we're going to see their happily ever after, disaster strikes. Roman comes into the picture looking for revenge and achieving it. Ever watches as Damen slips further and further away, as he becomes a person that she doesn't know, as he becomes the superficial teen of her nightmares, and still she loves him. And then he becomes so ill, it's all she can try to do to save him and set things right. But in setting things right, she wonders if their love was ever really meant to be, look what's happening to Damen because she made it possible for them to be together. I highly recommend this book for a great YA read, Alyson’s Noël has brought this story to life, making the reader long to fight for what's right, the eternal love of Ever and Damen. I was captivated from page one, and I'm looking forward to Shadowland where their story continues and I hope, grow. Ever has some redeeming to do. This book is the second in the series and I recommend reading them in order as one book picks up from the pages of the last, excellent story telling!

I picked this book up myself eagerly after reading the first, all opinions expressed are my own.

Updated!!!! Evermore, The Immortals, Book 1 by Alyson Noël

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin / St. Martin's Press
Pages: 301

From the Cover: Since a horrible accident claimed the lives of her family, sixteen-year-old Ever can see auras, hear people's thoughts, and know a person's life story by touch. Going out of her way to shield herself from human contact to suppress her abilities has branded her as a freak at her new high school - but everything changes when she meets Damen Auguste. Ever sees Damen and feels an instant recognition. He is gorgeous, exotic and wealthy, and he holds many secrets. Damen is able to make things appear and disappear, he always seems to know what she's thinking - and he's the only one who can silence the noise and the random energy in her head. She doesn't know who he really is - or what he is. Damen equal parts light and darkness, and he belongs to an enchanted new world where no one ever dies.

Ever Bloom has survived the impossible, the loss of her entire family; everyone except for her Aunt Sabine, her father's twin. And Ever knows the entire accident was solely her fault. She has cost her family all of their lives; her dad, mother, little sister Riley, and their dog, Buttercup. Yet, even as she watched her family wave goodbye forever, she longed to stay alive. And for that, she cannot forgive herself.

In her old life, she was a cheerleader, popular, one of the 'in' crowd. Now, she hides in the back of the class, hoping to go unnoticed. She hides as much as possible from the world by wearing hoodies and sunglasses and blasting her ipod. Anything that lets her drown out the voices and thoughts of those around her, because since the accident, she has become a freak; a psychic freak. She can see aura or the psychic energy surrounding the living. And not only can she hear everyone's most private thoughts, answers to the test questions, and intimacies she doesn't desire, but she sees dead people too.

Her little sister, Riley, visits daily. Riley just wanted to be thirteen and now all she gets to be is dead, living vicariously through Ever. Ava, the party psychic her aunt hired, tells Ever that this just isn't right. She has to let Riley go and she's right, but Ever doesn't know if she can live without Riley. Her only live friends are Miles and Haven, the only two people who don't care that she's not cool. Haven is being tempted by the dark, and Ever is scared for her; it may cost her life.

Suddenly peace is found, not by acceptance of her 'gift', but by the new guy in school Damen Auguste. With a single brush of his hand, which usually causes pain, a quiet comes over Ever that she can't remember. Like before the accident. When her life was normal, like she could look at herself in the mirror. And Damen only has eyes for Ever. Everytime he sees her, he bears a red tulip. What does this mean? Who can this mysterious and gorgeous guy be?

Evermore by Alyson Noël is a sweet story of loss and love, growing up and coming to terms with the horrible realities of life. Along with those realities, a whole new world is opened up for Ever, full of the mystical and fantastical. She doesn't know why this has happen to her, and when she does, it overloads her circuits and she refuses to believe the impossible. This is not your usual fantasy read and I was intrigued and surprise by what I found. At first, I thought maybe it was going to be Twilight-like, but it isn't at all. Ever is a heroine who lives in the lap of luxury and wants nothing more to go back to her old life. She doesn't need or desire all of the extras her Aunt Sabine can provide. Riley visits everyday, letting Ever pretend that she still has a little sister. And it's not healthy for either of them. Damen, our hero, has loved Ever forever and since he's found her, he doesn't intend to let her go. He's tall, dark beautiful eyes, bronze skinned, gorgeous, and mysterious. Only Ever can change his mind; force him to let her go. It's up to her to decide who she needs to tell goodbye and to do so, she has to accept reality. I found Evermore to be an unique read, entertaining, and at times funny, and then again at time, heart sorry. It was a fast interesting read that I finished in one sitting. If you a fan of YA, paranormal, and young romance, this is an excellent book. I can't wait to read the next in the series, Blue Moon, The Immortals, Book 2 released July 2009. I loved the explanation of auras at the beginning of the book and how Ms. Noël comes to explain the meaning of flowers. A worthy read that I very much enjoyed and recommend for all lovers of YA and paranormal, a refreshing twist. For more information about Alyson Noël or all of her great books, please visit http://www.alysonnoel.com/.

(release date July 2009)

Update!!!! Alyson Noël has revealed the new cover art of Book 3 of the Immortals, Shadowland.

(release date November 17, 2009)

Want more? Take a peek at the book trailer.