Review by ReviewerDiksha -- Ever After by H M Irwing

ReviewerDiksha · Post by **ReviewerDiksha** » 22 Sep 2017, 05:22

[Following is a volunteer review of "Ever After" by H M Irwing.]

1 out of 4 stars

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Ever After is a romantic novel written by HM Irwing. It follows the story of Cindy Marshall. After graduating from college, she has trouble finding a suitable job for herself. In order to fulfil her financial needs, she has to find work that is far off from what she originally set out to do. Her roommate helps her land the job of a waitress in a posh club named The Monks. One late night, while returning from the club, she finds herself in a problematic situation. And that is when Julian St. John, the owner of The Monks, comes to her rescue. Known as the Dark Prince, he is a young multi-billionaire who is in a constant scrutiny of media owing to his riches and the shady image of his family. His father is an Italian mafia lord and his mother is a mysterious novelty of Netherlands. This gives him a royalty status even though his mother’s identity remains shrouded in mystery. It is the story of how two people, poles apart from each other, fall in love.

Narrated in the first person by Cindy Marshall, this story takes us from the mundane surroundings of Melbourne to the fashion streets of Paris and the ancient castle of Netherlands. Starting from the damsel in distress situation to the lavish ball for finding a bride for the Dark Prince, the various settings and situations reminded me of the good old fairy tales. The author has created a vivid picture with the detailed and well-written descriptions of the surroundings. This book is for the people who believe themselves to be hopeless romantics. However, I don’t believe that an adult would fancy it as much as a teenager would. Also, for the people who want to do a bit of light reading, this novel could be a plausible option.

To begin with, I am a hopeless romantic. I love reading romantic novels and fairy tales. As I moved forward in the story of Cindy, I realized that her name was a modern twist to Cinderella and so was her story. Going to a ball to meet her Prince Charming, without the knowledge of her stepmother who wants to wed one of her daughters to the prince; this was all familiar to me. And while I looked forward to enjoying it, this book was an utter disappointment. It was closer in its resemblance to Fifty Shades of Grey than it was to Cinderella. To be honest, the prologue had me. I really believed that there was a potential in this story but I was proven wrong. There was so much substance in it that with a proper execution it could have been a modern classic. It is really a sad thing when such an opportunity is laid to waste.

I liked the fact that proper backgrounds had been developed for the protagonists. There was a lot of scope for drama in Cindy’s case. It is shown in the novel that her father had left her mother when she was diagnosed with cancer. One week after her mother’s funeral, Cindy’s father gets married to someone else. He never pays heed to her and she, too, wants to be left alone though secretly craving her father’s love. It was much more intriguing in the case of Julian. When it was mentioned that he had an Italian mafia heritage, I was instantly reminded of The Godfather. I thought that his past would attribute to a darkness in his character and the complications in his life. However, the author had something else in mind. Instead of exploiting their past and establishing them as individual characters, the author chose to keep their back stories on sidelines and brought their incomprehensible love for each other into focus.

There was no proper development of characters. No one came out of their shell, nothing changed for anyone. Everything was so casual, so over the head and somethings were just outright dumb. I found myself speaking “Who does that!” quite a few times. For something that had so many possibilities, this story turned out to be superficial and shallow. Hence, for all these flaws, I rate this novel 1 out of 4 stars. A better plot would have done some good to it. This could have been so much more than just some sexy scenes. A deeper meaning could have been given to the idea of ‘the first and last’ love, but it was left in the confines of the lust of a first timer! There was absolutely no chemistry, no proper connection between the protagonists. I couldn’t understand exactly what it was that attracted the hero to the heroine. There was a line in the book that said, “Somethings are meant to be without rhyme or reason.” Such a poor justification for every daft thing in the novel. I will admit that some people may find it better than I did. But for me, it just didn’t work out. We already have low expectations from romantic stories. This one doesn’t do any good on that front.

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Ever After
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ShivaniS · Post by **ShivaniS** » 23 Sep 2017, 00:57

I love fairy tales. I thought this was a good twist to one such. But now all my expectations have drowned. Thank you for an honest review, ReviewerDiksha. I was going to pick this one out. But now clearly I wont.

ReviewerDiksha · Post by **ReviewerDiksha** » 23 Sep 2017, 01:10

I was really disappointed with this one, to tell the truth. I picked it out because in the description it was given that it is a modern fairy tale. Thank you for stopping by ShivaniS

KamalK · Post by **KamalK** » 24 Sep 2017, 00:09

I'll say, I am not much into romantic stories and your review of this book has only consolidated my standing on this genre. As you mentioned, there are already low expectations from such stories and then novels like these only confirm those low expectations. You did a good job on the review though. I enjoyed reading it.

PratibhaG · Post by **PratibhaG** » 24 Sep 2017, 00:16

I must say I was also excited when you mentioned the part of it being a modern fairytale. But it turned out that bad

That's sad, because I was looking for a good recommendation for a romantic novel. Thank you for an honest review.

NeerajS · Post by **NeerajS** » 24 Sep 2017, 00:21

"Such a poor justification for every daft thing in the novel."

You must have been really frustrated from it to write that. I am glad I read the review first. I now know not to pick this one out. It was fun reading your review.

RKS · Post by **RKS** » 24 Sep 2017, 00:28

That was a very detailed description. I liked reading your review. The book doesn't seem so good

I agree with the low expectations part from romantic novels. Though there are some really good ones out there. Maybe not this one.

ShubhamSund · Post by **ShubhamSund** » 24 Sep 2017, 01:03

The Godfather

I would have read this if the criminal part had been developed aptly. But as you have mentioned that it was left in the sidelines then there is nothing there for me in this novel. Good job with the review though.

ReviewerDiksha · Post by **ReviewerDiksha** » 24 Sep 2017, 03:47

Thank you for the appreciation everyone. I am glad you guys liked my review.

Sanjay Singh Gusain · Post by **Sanjay Singh Gusain** » 24 Sep 2017, 07:50

Wow! I just love the way you describe things so beautifully.

kislany · Post by **kislany** » 25 Sep 2017, 07:45

I very much enjoyed your review, but I'm saying "no, thanks" to the book

I can find shallow everywhere around me, I don't need to find it in the books I'm reading as well!

ReviewerDiksha · Post by **ReviewerDiksha** » 25 Sep 2017, 08:02

kislany wrote:I very much enjoyed your review, but I'm saying "no, thanks" to the book I can find shallow everywhere around me, I don't need to find it in the books I'm reading as well!

True that Kislany! Thank you for stopping by.

Gingerbo0ks · Post by **Gingerbo0ks** » 25 Sep 2017, 12:26

Sounds like it could have been a good twist on Cinderella but fell short. I don't like romance novels that don't really have any substance to them. It's a shame it was disappointing.

ReviewerDiksha · Post by **ReviewerDiksha** » 25 Sep 2017, 12:34

Gingerbo0ks wrote:Sounds like it could have been a good twist on Cinderella but fell short. I don't like romance novels that don't really have any substance to them. It's a shame it was disappointing.

Just what I felt. Thank you for stopping by.