Shadowland By Alyson Noel

Setting:

It is set in California in a very nice neighborhood. The time is about 2008, so the story is set in modern day California. The story would be a lot different if it wasn't set in modern time. If it wasn't, not as many people would be able to relate to the teenage protagonist, because a lot of things have changed since the 19th century.The story would be more confusing as well. If the author didn't give an indication of the setting, I would be very confused while reading.

Point of View

The book is written in

1st person point of view. Ever tells the story from her point of view. Since she is the protagonist, I felt like this was the best person to have tell the story. The story would be really confusing if it was a different character narrating it, because the book shows a lot of Ever's thoughts.

Flashback

There is a flashback in this book about the moment Ever's whole family died in a car accident and she was the only one to survive. Ever talks about how she felt so guilty since only she got to stay alive. I think this adds to the story because it brings you up to speed, and then you understand why Ever acts or does some of the things that she does. I had a lot of questions about parts of the story but after the flashback, I started to understand some things. The author did a good job incorporating it into the plot of the book.

Allusion

The author refers to a lot of historical figures and objects. One thing was that there was a painting of Damen in his room, but it was painted by Leonardo De Vinci. The author assumed that I knew who Leonardo De Vinci was. The author also refers to other historical figures, like Pablo Picasso and William Shakespeare, whom Damen also had signed gifts of. I think the author chose these people because they are very famous and most people have heard of them and know who they are.

Other Books

Other books in this series are:

Theme

The theme of this book is: Good vs. Evil because Ever ultimately has to decide between good and evil, even though she doesn't know which is which. It was a little hard to pick a theme for the book, because there were a lot of conflicts going on at the same time. A secondary theme for this book would probably be: "Love endures forever" because there is a twist in the story where you find out about something that happened a long time ago.

Characterization:

Ever is the protagonist. The author put a lot of thought into Ever's past so that she is a very dynamic character as well. She has had a lot of past conflicts and conflicts that become apparent during the book. Ever changes a lot during the book, and she makes a lot of decisions that dramatically affect her.

Symbolism

Red tulips are a symbol in this book. Damen gives Ever red tulips all the time to surprise her and to show that he cares. Ever never knows how he gets them, but it just adds to the mystery :) I think this was a good thing to have in the book because it shows just how much Damen cares about Ever and his undying love for her.

Plot Line:

Climax

There are a couple big things that happen in the book at the same time that I would call the climax. Ever finds out that Damen is an immortal, which means that he will always look like a teenager and he will never die. Right after that, Drina comes after Ever, trying to kill her, because Drina is in love with Damen. Drina also admits that she caused the car accident that killed Ever's family because she was trying to kill Ever. I think that this was a very good turning point because the author was foreshadowing that something like this would happen during the whole book.

Rising Action

The rising action in this story is when a new kid named Damen shows up at school. Everybody likes him but Ever is a little more cautious. Then Ever and Damen start dating. Ever still thinks there is something weird about him but can't figure out what. Ever's friend Haven befriends a girl named Drina whom Ever doesn't like. This gets the reader thinking about Ever's decision to go out with Damen even though she said he is so mysterious. The author kind of hints that something big will happen soon with Drina and Ever.

Falling Action

The falling action of the story is the final pages of the book. It was where we found out that Damen was the one that saved Ever from dying when the rest of her family did. The book ends with Damen taking Ever to a place called Summerland to save Ever from Drina. IJ think that this was a good ending for the book because it leaves reading waiting to read more. Since this is a book series, this was the best way for the author to end it.

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Introduction

Conclusion

The author talks about what happened before Ever, the protagonist's, family dies. It is a very affective way to start the story because it does two things: it tells you more about the character's past and it gets you hooked into reading more.

There wasn't an actual conclusion to the book because it is a whole series of books so the conclusion is really in the beginning of the next book.

Evermore

By: Alyson Noel