I cracked open Oblivion third in Kelly Creagh’s Nevermore trilogy with high hopes, despite not really geling with Enshadowed. I had hoped that maybe Enshadowed was just sophomore slump. Also? I really, really wanted to know what had happened to Isobel and Varen and how the trilogy ends. Nevermore, the first of the gothic trilogy was a knock out read for me. I mean, Creagh really hit it out of the park with her debut. And so, my expectations were super high for the follow up, but then I just ended up not in love with it. Still, hope springs eternal. Unfortunately, I found Oblivion to be a merely adequate conclusion to the trilogy and not the amazing reading experience I had hoped it would be.
In Enshadowed – FYI spoilers follow – Isobel dies and then comes back to life. You see, Varen killed her in the dream world because he’s been negatively influenced by Lillian, the she-demon. So, Isobel returns from Baltimore and her attempt to save Varen, broken and back in New Jersey. She is a shadow of her former self. She has little focus. She doesn’t cheerlead anymore. She really does seem like a husk. She is taking being unable to save Varen pretty hard. Then, Isobel gets a glimmer of possibility when it comes to being able to bring Varen back, and so she contends with Nocs and Reynolds and Lillian and returns to the dreamworld, in the veil between life and death, in hopes of a second chance at playing rescuer.
To be quite honest, I feel like the things that made me really care about Isobel in Nevermore were missing from this book. I liked that she was a cheerleader and passionate about it – yet she wasn’t a ditz. In this book, she reads as a sort of husk. She’s so mopey and boring and depressing. I get it, her love was lost to the shadow world. However, she only really was with him for a month. It’s a bit ridiculous. Like, she does a 180 in regards to personality. I feel bad for finding her dreary. Yet, there’s some good. She does go into some terrifying situations with bravery which I like. She does not give up on Varen which is a huge plus, because she could just wimp out and be like, whatever, you stay in the dreamworld. Instead, she goes after him and faces some pretty large fears. I just wish there was a bit MORE of that Isobel from the first book.
Varen, the love interest and other lead, is also different. I hated what his character was like in Enshadowed. While reading Oblivion I had hoped for redemption. I will not say whether we got that or not, but I did like Varen’s character more in this book. He is kind of a dark character, which is cool. I mean, that’s different from what I normally read. However, I thought he was kind of a jerk to Isobel a lot and I just did not get the appeal anymore. I get why he does that – because he thinks he killed Isobel and because he’s trapped in this nightmare world. Still, my tolerance can only stretch so far. And well, there’s maybe one scene in the middle that brings some swoons and then the end. Otherwise, I just was not even a Varen fan anymore.
Oblivion took me forever to get through. It isn’t even that this is a long book, it is not by the standards of the two books I sandwiched it between - Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray and Love May Fail by Matthew Quick. Yet, the pacing was excruciating for me. I really wanted to whip through this book and love it as much as I loved Nevermore but that never happened once. I never felt as though this was the greatest book of all time ever. Mostly, I felt like scenes in the dreamworld dragged on and on and took forever to get through. I mean, perhaps mileage will vary for this book, but for me, it was okay. I am glad there’s a full conclusion and that I know what happens to all of the characters. I just, did not love this bit of the journey.
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