I almost didn't finish this book, but i already decided to not finish another book, so i felt guilty leaving two books unfinished in a row! i didn't find this story gripping, nor was the male romantic lead all that interesting.

honestly I loved this book so much, at first it was hard to get into it, i had this book for months before finally giving it another try. i just never got around to reading the rest in the series.

I was so intreged by the book I love it I can't wait for the next book I live this series I can't wait to find out the ending of the series.

I have to say what I loved most about Immortal by Gillian Shields was the way the story was told, the way it was written and that if Ms. Shields were to write a new story or series I would not hesitate to pick it up because I know not only will the writing be beautiful but the story engaging. However, when I think about continuing on to read Betrayal, the sequel to Immortal, I can’t help but hesitate because even though Immortal was a haunting magical story about gaining and losing love I couldn’t truly believe in the love between Evie and Sebastian because I couldn’t believe in either of these two characters. Read more

Unoriginal, poorly-written ripoff of Libba Bray's A Great and Terrible Beauty, with weak characters. I don't think I'll be reading the sequel.

This was way too predictable, 90% of the "secrets" I figured out at the beginning of the book.

The basic story line of the book is typical of a book in this genre but I decided to read it anyway.

The Good

I liked how the author added a twist with the magic in this book and didnt just make the standard witch stuff. I loved how she included the journal entries throughout the book. I think it made the story that much more interesting to the reader and it also aided in figuring out a lot of the story. I also liked how I thought the ending was going to be predictable, but it wasn't. I was both happy with the way it ended and relieved that I didn't always know what would happen. 

The Bad

The romance was the only part of the story that was predictable. I knew that they were gonna fall in love.  The guy would say sweet things, tell her how he can't live without her then out of nowhere say that they can't be together. I hated when the book took that turn. Way to typical of a male lead these days. 

Overall

Overall I didn't hate the book, but it wasn't a book where I absolutely had to know what happened. It was a book that I could set down and go a day without reading it. That is the exact reason why it got 3 stars, it wasn't horrible, but it wasn't amazing either. But I would recommend that you read the book, it just didn't exactly suit my taste. 

For some reason, I don't read very many gothic novels, even though when I do read them I love them. Is it that there aren't many of them written? Are they just not flashy enough to compete with their dystopian brethren? Or do I just not keep them high enough on my radar? This gothic beauty has been languishing on my TBR for a long time, and I'm kicking myself for not getting to it sooner.

Immortal had everything going for it - sweeping romance, eerie moors, haunting ghosts. In the first 100 pages, I was enthralled. Evie arrives at Wyldcliffe, only to be nearly run over by a dark, mysterious, and handsome (naturally) boy on a horse. It was a scene ripped from Jane Eyre, that gothic novel to end all gothic novels. I was anticipating the love story to come and finding the secrets hidden in the passageways of the boarding school.

Around the midpoint of the book I realized that I needed to adjust my expectations. Evie isn't really haunted so much as she experiences visions. She has odd dreams and keeps seeing a girl who looks like her lurking around the school, but she's never really frightened by any of it. This means, of course, that I was never scared as a reader, either. It took a lot of the fun out of Evie's trips down musty passageways and out onto the moor to meet up with Sebastian.

Sebastian, the boy from the horse, runs into her again late one night after Evie has snuck out to get some air. They begin to meet up nightly, and Evie falls in love. I guess. Well, she says she falls in love, but I certainly didn't get swoony over it. This was one romance that just wasn't for me.

You see, the book intersperses Evie's story with excerpts from Lady Agnes Templeton's diary from 1882 to 1884. Agnes, the daughter of the owners of Wyldcliffe manor, writes about her friend "S." who introduces her to the Mysticke Way. "S" is kind of a jerk, and as they unlock their mystical powers (witchcraft, though no one in this book wants to call it that), he gets worse.

SPOILER ALERT! (I think, though it seemed pretty obvious to me.)

Spoiler

I mean, clearly, "S" is Sebastian, right? So I'm reading all about this douche from the past who treated Lady Agnes like complete garbage...and then I'm supposed to be happy that Evie is falling for him? Nope. Not going to happen.

(Carry on.)

The witchcraft bit doesn't really come in to play for Evie's story until late in the book, at which point she has to rush to understand her role in the history of Wyldcliffe much too quickly for my taste.

Once Evie finally starts to put together the pieces of the large and obvious clues in front of her, there are only a few chapters left. She has so much to learn and do, which gets rushed into a couple of scenes, only to build to a climax that is resolved so quickly and lacks so much (or any) confrontation that it feels too easy.

Instead of wrapping things up with a genuine conflict between Evie and some badass witches in this story, it seems like the author left that for the next in the series. What a letdown! I would have liked to have seen more of Evie developing her own powers and working with her friends. I would have liked to have seen her then use those powers in a manner that actually accomplished something instead of seeming to delay the conflict for a bit.

Still, I'm only really complaining because overall I really enjoyed the book. I liked the mystery of Lady Agnes and "S" and how it all tied in with Evie. I loved the setting (boarding school!) and the isolation of this old manor on the moor. I tore through this book - devoured it - to find out what would happen next. It was thoroughly engaging, even if it didn't turn out to be quite the book I wanted it to be.

I remember reading Immortal by Gillian Shields a long time ago and not liking it. As it was a couple years ago, and for some reason I didn't write a review on it, I'm not quite sure why I didn't like it. I think it was childish and seemed a little silly, but I don't remember. All I know is that I couldn't finish it so I put it aside. Read at your own peril, LOL.