Review of Dark Flame

Dark Flame (Immortals #4) by Alyson Noel

Pages: 320

Genre: YA Fantasy

Pub. Date: June 22, 2010

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

*Note: My review contains spoilers from books 1-3 in the series.

Goodreads says, "At the start of this mesmerizing new installment of the Immortals series, Ever is helping her friend Haven transition into life as an immortal. But with Haven drunk on her new powers and carelessly putting them all at risk, their friendship becomes more and more strained. At the same time, Ever delves deeper into magick in order to get control over her enemy Roman and free Damen from his power. But when the spell she casts on Roman backfires, she’s bound to her deadliest enemy. Frantic to reverse the spell the moment the moon enters a new phase, she finds her efforts are fruitless—there’s a strange, foreign pulse coursing through her, one that propels her toward Roman. Desperate to break free of this terrible curse before Damen or the twins can discover what she’s done, she turns to Jude and delves deeper and deeper into dark magick, ultimately risking everything she knows and loves—including Damen. "

If you read Shadowland, you know that Ever's best friend, Haven, is now an immortal.  Towards the beginning of the novel, Ever is trying to help Haven become an immortal without doing something stupid.  She is trying to give her the ins and outs, but Haven is struggling with the transition and is hanging out with Roman, Ever's enemy.  Haven and Ever's  friendship goes through some major ups and downs in this book.  Regarding Damen, things are still difficult due to Roman's spell which basically keeps Ever and Damen apart.  Ever tries to break the spell by dabbling in magick, but it backfires and pretty much does the worst thing possible. It attracts her to Roman instead of doing the opposite.  To make matters worse, instead of confiding in Damen about the situation, she goes to Jude for support and help.  Ever realizes that she needs to obtain the antidote from Roman, but how can she deal with her newfound attraction to him?  Like most things in life, they must get worse before they get better and the same is true of Ever.  Alyson Noel's fourth installment in the Immortals series, Dark Flame, is better than Shadowland, but it lacks the special something that is found in Evermore, the first book in the series.


When I first read Evermore, I thought it was fabulous; in fact, it's one of my favorites.  Blue Moon was also entertaining.  Then I read Shadowland and I was extremely disappointed.  I was hoping that in Dark Flame, Noel would redeem herself and thankfully, she did.  I am not nearly as invested in the characters as I was for the first two books in the series, but I am still entertained by the storyline. The reason for this lack of personal connection is because I am frustrated with Ever and her choices.  She definitely has Bella Swan syndrome and if you have read my reviews before, you know that I am referring to a protagonist that is constantly putting herself in danger, is a tad whiny/wimpy, and makes stupid choices.  Simply put....it's hard to feel bad for Ever after she does some idiotic things in Shadowland and it continues a bit in Dark Flame.  However, towards the end of the novel, Ever redeems herself.


This novel focuses a bit more on Jude and less on Damen, which I guess is bound to happen in a series.  Jude is a pretty zen character.  I really like his laid back style, but Ever strings him along, which is also frustrating.  But Jude gets some gumption in this novel and perhaps he may fight for Ever in the future?  Also, Jude seems to be Ever's only real friend (other than Damen) in this book and she finds herself alone at times dealing with her dire situation.  Regarding Roman, readers get some background about him and essentially it explains his awful behavior.  It gives Ever some insight into who he really is.  This part of the story really comes full circle.


Noel's writing style is engaging .  Readers can count on her to place unsuspecting twists and turns in the story line.  Dark Flame has many and I was pleasantly surprised, which is why I will continue with the series.  After all, I need to know what's going to happen to Ever!


Book five, Night Star, comes out in November and then the final book in the series comes out in 2011.  What I am even more excited for is the spin-off series focusing on Ever's sister, Riley and her dog, Buttercup.  Riley is one of my favorite characters and Radiance comes out August 31st.  I hear that it is geared towards tweens, which I am hoping is perfect for my younger students.  I also got word that Noel is writing a new fantasy series called Soul Seekers, which comes out in 2012.  Wow! Alyson Noel is going to be very busy and I look forward to reading what she comes up with next!

*Buy Dark Flame

*Read chapter one and two

*Pre-order Night Star

*Pre-order Radiance

*Watch the book trailer for The Immortals series: