Dark Flame by Alyson Noel: Book Review

dark flame by alyson noel cover

Dark Flame took some turns down a pretty dark path involving (semi-metaphorical) addiction. I enjoyed the development of that plot line, in particular toward the end of the book where Ever begins to truly learn what happened to her. The plot twist at the very end of this twist was a real sucker punch!

Some of the transitions – or rather lack thereof – were a bit jarring to me. For instance, there’s one chapter that ends with her doing a ritual, and then everything is completely changed at the beginning of the next chapter, with nothing leading the reader there. I found myself wondering for quite a ways into the following chapter whether it was a dream or if things really had changed that much, that suddenly.

One major inconsistency that I can’t get my head around is that Ever, as an immortal, comes down with acne and loses weight in this book. However, it’s been stated multiple times that immortals don’t get sick – they don’t even get hangnails, as stated in this very book! – so how can they get acne? And also, how can an immortal lose weight, when they don’t have to eat? I couldn’t make sense of that.

Damen continues in this book to show some of his major shortcomings in his unwillingness to really listen to Ever when it’s particularly important; and I found it a bit aggravating how that was practically glossed over, how he’s still made out to be The Perfect Boyfriend In Every Way (TM). However, I’ll grant that it could be argued that it’s because the story is told from Ever’s perspective, and that’s basically her opinion of him.

The author does a fantastic job of portraying Ever as a teenager, with all the good and bad that entails. Ever is impulsive, rash, and at times immature, seeing this way too much in black and white; but by this point in the series we can also see that she’s determined, firm in her convictions, and knows what she wants.

I’m enjoying the ways that her relationships are developing as the series progresses, and in particular how she discovered that she was wrong in her convictions about some people in this book. I think she really grew as a character in Dark Flame, and that’s always imperative for a good story. – Anne ⭐️⭐️⭐️


 

Many threads came full circle in Dark Flame. I enjoyed the intensity of suspense and all the feels that this book provided.

Again, italics are used (in my opinion) way too much which sometimes resulted in me getting distracted and thrown out of the scene – especially when said italics found their way into the dialogue.

I have had mixed feelings about Roman for this entire series (mainly because I think his accent rubs me wrong – like it’s almost too much a stereotype) but I absolutely loved how his character is developed in Dark Flame.

I think Ever is a frustrating but fascinating and well done character. Her own growth really pleased me by the end of this novel.

I am confused about some of the inconsistencies regarding immortals. I feel like we are never really given a clear picture about if they have a society or their back story. I have to wonder if this is simply because Damen is withholding so much information from Ever and this is all told from her point of view. Still, I wind up with so many questions I hope might eventually be answered.

The author has a knack of getting us to keep reading. The characters (while sometimes frustrating for various reasons) are compelling and developing in ways that is really interesting to me! – Jake ⭐️⭐️⭐️



Read all of our reviews for The Immortals Series here:

5 thoughts on “Dark Flame by Alyson Noel: Book Review

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