My rating: 4 of 5 stars
3.5 stars
I admit I went a little concerned after reading multiple reviews of how bland and boring the characters were in Everless from trusted reviewers on here. But luckily I'm shallow and the cover-porn of this book convinced me to read it anyway. It's also got an interesting premise.
The story follows Jules, a destitute peasant in a world where time is money, literally. Your life's blood-which holds your time, is converted to money. the more blood you lose, the shorter your life is. Her father is nearing death, he has bled out most of him time. As things are looking dire, Jules earns a place at Everless in the Gerling estate, the lands her father and she once worked on before they were run out by Liam Gerling after witnessing something terrible. Jules must now face her past, in more ways than one, in order to earn blood-iron enough to save her father and herself. Or so that's what she thought, fate has other plans.
I. LOVE. THIS. PREMISE.
Everless is an utterly unique plot that I applaud for it's intricate world building. The details are pervasive and fit in well. Nothing feels "thrown at you" or like an information overload at any point. The pacing, if not a bit slow, was clearly done with a lot of thought, handing out potent information only when the reader needed to know.
I thought I had the ending figured out. I really did. I was like, wow- that wasn't THAT much of a twist. Like this all makes sen- HOLY HELL. I did not see that one coming!
It's always pleasant when a book surprise you like that. Amongst the many YA tropes thrown at you nowadays, it's rare for a plot twist to well, actually be a plot twist. Oh, make no mistake, Everless is full of YA tropes:
1. poor but nice goody-two-shoes girl
2. Happy Prince and Broody Prince
3. Dead parents
4. Gloating villain
5. MC runs into danger without thinking
I still enjoyed it though. My big caveat here is that, a lot of reviewers correct in that Jules and the rest of the characters are just B-O-R-I-N-G. Literally NO ONE has a personality. If you ask me right now, to say 1 thing that described Jules' personality, I can't think of one. Maybe, "nice" if I had to say something.
We're given nothing of Jules. She works to live and is curious about what her father is hiding. Aside from that, she's just really bland. OH and don't even get me started on her worthless and totally ridiculous love for Roan Gerling.
[Romance tldr: We played together as children and like 11 years later I still love him even though he's getting married. I also think he might love me back. ]
How dumb can you be? You've grown up, he's grown up. You are not the same kids you were when you were 6, playing tag and hide and seek you fool. What do you mean you still love him? I wanted to slap her, so hard, and tell her to get her shit together. Because, seriously.
Then there is Liam Gerling, the sole breath of fresh air. The shadowed brother. The angry and cruel brother who is not who he seems and is hiding big secrets. Actually, just trust nothing. No one is who you think they are. NO ONE.
Anyway, everyone loves a misunderstood broody pants. Can't wait to see if something pans out there.
I am so excited for book 2. Mostly because of Liam. Jules...eh, I don't really care about her. In fact, I care for the Queen's heir more than Jules- Ina. I hope she becomes a main character in book 2. I'd love a POV from her!
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