Dark Flame (Immortals, #4) by Alyson Noël, Book Review

In Alyson Noel’s most darkly seductive Immortals novel yet, Ever fights for control of her body, her soul—and the timeless true love she’s been chasing for centuries.

Ever is trying to help Haven transition into life as an immortal. But with Haven drunk on her new powers and acting recklessly, she poses the ultimate threat—exposing their secret world to the outside. As Ever struggles to keep the Immortals hidden, it only propels Haven closer to the enemy—Roman and his evil companions.
At the same time, Ever delves deeper into dark magick to free Damen from Roman’s power. But when her spell backfires, it binds her to the one guy who’s hell-bent on her destruction. Now there’s a strange, foreign pulse coursing through her, and no matter what she does, she can’t stop thinking about Roman—and longing for his touch. As she struggles to resist the fiery attraction threatening to consume her, Roman is more than willing to take advantage of her weakened state…and Ever edges closer and closer to surrender.

Frantic to break the spell before its too late, Ever turns to Jude for help, risking everything she knows and loves to save herself—and her future with Damen …

Title: Dark Flame
Author: Alyson Noël
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Pages: 320
Release Date: June 22, 2010
Source: Bought
Format: Hardcover
Rating: 4/5

Wow. Just--wow. I love Alyson Noël--always have, always will. I first spotted Evermore (Immortals, #1) at Wal-Mart in my early teens and plucked it off the shelf, mesmerized by the cover. I opened the cover, read the first page, and began the journey into the world of the Immortals. I thought that Evermore was amazing, Blue Moon was okay, and Shadowland was really good. Dark Flame picks up right where Shadowland left off and I was happy to return to this world once more. This time around, Ever fights her attraction to Roman and tries to break the binding spell that ties them together. All the time, Ever is weakening and becomes very miserable and frail--both physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Just when Ever thinks that she has lost it all, she dedicates to overcoming those obstacles and fights them until she finally reaches her goal, 320 pages later.

The plot-I love the plot of the Immortals series. The idea of a sixteen-year-old girl who dies and then comes back with psychic abilities and discovers that she is the reincarnated spirit of an immortal's lover and has to battle a scorned lover, a betrayed accomplice, and a heartbroken comrade is brilliant, and Noël manages to make every second of it exciting and thrilling.

The setting-Laguna Beach, California is a beautiful place with a sapphire ocean, white sand, golden sun, and baby blue sky with tropical trees, sun kissed skin, and plenty of marine life with an active social life and a diverse range of minorities. I know all this why? Not because I've been there, but because of the vivid descriptions in Noël's books. I loved the setting, and it has endless possibilities.

The characters-I loved how strong and independent Ever was. She took the reins and took control of her own life. She wasn't going to let anyone tell her what to do--she knew her path, and she followed it the way she wanted to, not the way someone else told her to. Ever is definitely a smart chick who makes loads of mistakes, but she learns from her mistakes and tries her best to do the right thing, and that's why she is one of my favorite heroines. I love Damen, Ever's handsome, mysterious, and wealthy lover. Damen is funny, intelligent, artisitc, protective, loving, caring, and understanding--what guy could be more perfect? I love the relationship between Ever and Damen, and the high stakes that jeopardize it all. Jude--eh, Jude...Jude is a reincarnated spirit who has fought for Ever's heart alongside Damen for centuries. Jude makes a great best friend, but I cannot see him and Ever getting together. I got very angry at Jude at the end of this book, and when and if you read it, you'll understand why, although I can understand the reasoning behind what he did and I guess I can understand. I got very, very annoyed with Haven during this book, and I just wanted her to get hit by the bus...she wouldn't die, of course, because she's immortal, but I hoped that the bus would punch her in one of her seven chakras and kill her--yes, she was that annoying that I wanted to see her get run over...twice! I understand why the author made Haven the way she was in this book to set things up in the next installment.

When I closed this book, I sat there for a moment and digested what I had just read. I loved everything about Dark Flame...except a minor tediousness throughout the book. I felt as if Noel repeated herself often and retold a few things from the previous novel, Shadowland. I also noticed a few inconsistencies in the mythology of the book. For instance, Hecate (Goddess of Magick) was portrayed as an evil, rogue immortal queen of the Underworld. I believe that Noël only did this to make Hecate an original element of fiction instead of the classic Goddess of Magick. I loved the wide array of diversity and culture in this book. Noël includes straight as well as LGBT characters in her books and the philosophies initiated in her Immortals series has both Wiccan and Hindu roots with pentagrams, magick, spellcasting, sacred circles, chakras, and meditation.