Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Another Dark and Brooding Boarding School Tale

Immortal by Gillian Shields

A young girl sent off to a gothic boarding school where she falls in love with an inappropriate young man seems to be a popular theme these days (Fallen by Lauren Kate and A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray are just two that come to mind.) Gillian Shields’ Immortal is about Evie Johnson a teen who lives with her grandmother, Frankie, because Dad is a deployed soldier and mom died when Evie when was younger. All is well until Frankie falls ill and Evie has nowhere to go until Dad gets her a scholarship to Wyldcliffe Abbey, a boarding school for rich stuck-up girls.

Things go wrong from the beginning. Evie’s arrival at the school is delayed by an encounter with a dark and brooding young man. She engages the wrath of a fellow student simply by existing. And the head mistress seems to dislike her just on principal. Things seem hopeless until she meets once again the dark brooding young man that she encountered just before arriving at Wyldcliffe. Not surprisingly, Evie becomes obsessed with this young man, Sebastian. Also not surprisingly, Sebastian has deep dark secrets. However, he is not the only one with secrets. There are secrets in Evie’s family history and even the head mistress is keeping secrets. All these secrets are tied together and make for a brooding angst filled story. Though this story does not stand out from others like it, I did find it interesting. Shields hooked me on her story and I plan to read the next book, Betrayal, which is due out in August. Fans of Melissa Marr’s Wicked Lovely series, Libba Bray’s A Great and Terrible Beauty trilogy, and Lauren Kate’s Fallen will enjoy Immortal.

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