Everless is a book that's been on my radar for quite some time. There has been a lot of hype around its debut, and I'm happy to tell you that it's completely warranted. It's hard to go into any YA book these days, particularly in the fantasy realm, that isn't rife with overly saturated tropes and unoriginal plot ideas. While I have rated this book 5 stars, I will say that Sara's debut isn't completely unblemished. She does run into a few road bumps that new authors bump into, mainly her major info-dumping at the beginning of the book. However, it didn't affect my rating for the simple fact that fantasy books both YA and Adult require a fair amount of info-dumping in order to gain a proper world-building foundation. It comes with the territory. She also struggled a bit with some of her mythology in terms of its clarity, however the deeper you dive into the book, the clearer it becomes. The premise in itself is what will keep readers drawn in. It's fresh and deeply intriguing.
Sara Holland gives a new and sinister meaning behind the common phrase, "running out of time". Everless introduces us to a world that revolves around time as currency. A person's time can be drained by draining your blood and turning it into iron pieces. Those same pieces can be dissolved into liquid in order to consume them and add time to one's life. Punishments are often dished out by draining one's blood in order to take their time. This is the sadistic equivalent to paying a fine in our world. The rich in Everless world have the most time at their disposal and can realistically live for a long time. Our protagonist Jules Ember and those like her are poor, and must bleed themselves often in order to pay their rent and obtain other bare necessities in order to survive, cutting their life-span down all of the time. It's this kind of world-building that makes me deeply appreciate its originality. It's bleak and it impacts the reader by forcing us to understand the protagonist's plight.
Jules takes a job at Everless, the estate of the Gerlings, after she's tired of seeing her father become sick from bleeding his life away in order for them to survive. The Gerlings are one of the wealthiest and significant families in all of Sempera, and they have a history with Jules and her Papa. There are many secrets to Jules past that she must uncover, and we get to see how her life quickly unravels as her trials begin to seem insurmountable. Jules' father always told her to stay away from Everless but of course she doesn't listen. Protagonist never do.
Holland subverts common tropes found with the genre of YA and she keeps readers on their toes. The most easiest to point out is the romance in her story. The romance isn't as cut and dry as we are lead to believe and the book's ending completely throws everything we knew out the window and brings us back to square one. Appearances are definitely deceiving in Everless and the book's ending plot twist definitely threw me for a loop, which is saying something about Holland because it's hard not to predict things in YA books these days.
I don't always share quotes but one quote stood out in particular in regards to the imagery of just how bleak the world of Everless is,
An older couple, two women with backs curved with too much work and too few years, hunch over a small table in the corner, taking turns cutting each other's palms and letting the blood flow into empty vials. I wonder if they're putting time away for their children.
Parents are shedding their years by shedding their blood in order to keep their children alive. It's quite sad but it's also a critique on our own world, because isn't that what our parents do for us when we're children, particularly if our family is poor? They work all their lives in order to settle down, start a family, and build a better life for their children, one they didn't have growing up.
Everless is lush and an intricately drawn out world that prides itself on secrets and plot twists. The finery and lavish beauty of the world hides the undercurrent of sinister motives and evil magic. Jules' story is an fresh and addictive page turner that will keep you up into the wee hours of the night. I know it definitely did for me. Be sure to pick it up ASAP!
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Reviews with images
A great start to a new YA fantasy series!
Everless is a fantastic YA fantasy! I don’t even know where to start. This story is about a girl named Jules who’s on the cusp of loosing everything. Set in what feels like a medieval time and yet with some magical elements, she sets out to redeem herself and to save her father. You may think that this book could easily become cliche (at first it reminded me on the movie, In Time) and you’d be right, but its so far from it! It has so many elements playing into it with plot twist after plot twist and the world of Everless was… unnerving. With myths and fairytales, love or hate characters, and the idea of currency becoming a physical item of blood and time… this suspenseful read kept the pages turning! Don’t look too much into this. Just pick up a copy (seriously its beautiful) and read it. You’ll thank me later! I CANNOT wait for the second book!
Top reviews from other countries
Federica (On Rainy Days)
Meraviglia
Reviewed in Italy on August 18, 2020
Federica (On Rainy Days)
Reviewed in Italy on August 18, 2020
[…]
A rendere davvero interessante questo romanzo è sicuramente la componente magica. La possibilità di manipolare il Tempo attraverso il sangue delle persone, con delle monete chiamate comunemente blood-iron (letteralmente “sangue-ferro”, sono delle monete forgiate insieme al sangue delle persone così che valgano qualche ora, dei giorni oppure degli anni a seconda della quantità che contengono) è una delle caratteristiche che più mi è piaciuta di questa storia. Altro elemento a favore sono le sue atmosfere dark e un po’ gloomy (quasi a ricordare gli aspetti più misteriosi di Caraval), che danno campo libero una protagonista determinata e quasi impossibile da scoraggiare. A volte Jules è un po’ prevenuta, cosa che nella prima metà del romanzo non la rende esattamente un’eroina, e fatica a capire di chi sarebbe bene fidarsi e di chi no, ma nel bel mezzo degli intrighi e delle misteriose vicende provenienti da un passato lontanissimo, ci si trova davanti a una ragazza che, benché spaventata, per quanto incapace di reagire ai colpi di un nemico imbattibile, trova comunque il modo di reagire, soccorsa da quella che sarebbe potuta sembrare l’ultima delle speranze.
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Snarky
unterhaltsames Fantasy- Story
Reviewed in Germany on January 31, 2019
Snarky
Reviewed in Germany on January 31, 2019
An der Geschichte hat mir von Anfang an gereizt, dass Zeit eine Währung ist. Dies gewinnen die Reichen im Königreich Sempera aus Blut, um ihre eigene Lebenszeit zu erhöhen. Vor Jahren arbeiteten Jules Ember und ihr Vater als Bedienstete in Everless, dem Palast der Gerlings. Doch ein schicksalhafter Unfall zwang sie, mitten in der Nacht zu fliehen. Als Jules entdeckt, dass ihr Vater im Sterben liegt, weiß sie, dass sie nach Everless zurückkehren muss, um sich mehr Zeit für ihn zu verdienen.
Aber nach Everless zurückzukehren bringt mehr Gefahr mit sich, als Jules sich je hätte vorstellen können. Bald schon gerät sie in ein Gewirr gewalttätiger Geheimnisse. Ihre Entscheidungen haben die Macht, ihr Schicksal zu ändern – und das Schicksal der Zeit selbst.
Die Charaktere haben mir gut gefallen. Jules war mutig, selbstlos und zielstrebig. Sie setzt alles daran ihren Vater zu retten. Da sie sich auch nicht wirklich an die Geschehnisse von damals erinnern kann und auch nicht versteht, warum ihr Vater nicht wollte, dass sie nach Everless zurückkehrt, begibt man sich mit ihr auf die Suche nach der Wahrheit. Angetan war ich auch von Jules und Liams Beziehung. Sie erinnert sich nur daran, was für ein Bully Liam als Kind war und dass er beinahe seinen Bruder getötet hat, aber sein Verhalten hat sich ihr gegenüber plötzlich geändert.
“Everless” von Sara Holland ist ein unterhaltsames Fantasy- Story, die mich wirklich überrascht hat. Ich werde definitiv mit noch den nächsten Band besorgen.
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