by Sara Holland
Genre: YA fantasy
My Rating: ★★
Description:
Time is a weapon. Only she can wield it.
Jules Ember is on the run for her life. It's been weeks since she discovered she was the Alchemist, and her archenemy, Caro, is determined to steal back the heart Jules stole from her in a previous life. With the help of Liam Gerling, a man Jules is terrified to fall in love with, she desperately tries to unearth the secrets of her past lives -- before Caro catches up.
Overall Thoughts
Some of you may know that when I read Everless way back in May, I really enjoyed it. It wasn't without its faults, of course, but overall it was an enjoyable read, and I was excited to read the sequel, which came out fairly recently this year. I was sorely disappointed. This book suffers from weak plotting, an irritating and nonsensical romantic subplot, and some truly idiotic and out-of-character character decisions.
The beginning of Evermore was slow, but I had the same problem with Everless at first, and assumed that it would get better as the story progressed. It never did.
The Characters
Let's start with the characters. Jules was a smart protagonist in Everless -- she made some poor decisions, obviously, but she at least thought about what she was going to do and weighed the risks of doing it. But in Evermore, Jules became really, really stupid. I'm thinking of a few separate scenes right now, all of which are spoilers, but if you want to read my more spoiler-y thoughts about it, check out my Goodreads review, which goes into the individual scenes that bothered me as well as the overall story.
Plot/Pacing
And speaking of the overall story... I'm afraid to say that it was kind of boring and rambly. Jules is pretty clueless, and relies far more on her past life's memories than she does on her own decisions. It bothered me how little Jules affected the plot. This made a bunch of the events in the book seem really random.
And the romance subplot? The worst. I liked Liam in Everless, and I guess I liked him in Evermore, too? But not as much, for sure. And the romance between him and Jules was a) insta-love b) insanely annoying and c) unrealistic. I could see Liam having a crush on Jules -- it makes sense with his backstory with her. But Jules having a crush on Liam? No. Doesn't work. She spent years of her life assuming this guy was evil and tried to murder her childhood crush. I would think it would take a little while to get used to the idea that the guy is on the same side. But no. And it's not even a mutal crush in this book. We have both Jules and Liam throwing around the L-word when they've barely interacted at all for the couple of weeks they've agreed to be allies. Makes zero sense.
I'm really sad I didn't end up enjoying Evermore, because as I said, I did really love Everless. But overall, the book just didn't work for me.
Content
Recommended for ages 15 and up.
The beginning of Evermore was slow, but I had the same problem with Everless at first, and assumed that it would get better as the story progressed. It never did.
The Characters
Let's start with the characters. Jules was a smart protagonist in Everless -- she made some poor decisions, obviously, but she at least thought about what she was going to do and weighed the risks of doing it. But in Evermore, Jules became really, really stupid. I'm thinking of a few separate scenes right now, all of which are spoilers, but if you want to read my more spoiler-y thoughts about it, check out my Goodreads review, which goes into the individual scenes that bothered me as well as the overall story.
Plot/Pacing
And speaking of the overall story... I'm afraid to say that it was kind of boring and rambly. Jules is pretty clueless, and relies far more on her past life's memories than she does on her own decisions. It bothered me how little Jules affected the plot. This made a bunch of the events in the book seem really random.
And the romance subplot? The worst. I liked Liam in Everless, and I guess I liked him in Evermore, too? But not as much, for sure. And the romance between him and Jules was a) insta-love b) insanely annoying and c) unrealistic. I could see Liam having a crush on Jules -- it makes sense with his backstory with her. But Jules having a crush on Liam? No. Doesn't work. She spent years of her life assuming this guy was evil and tried to murder her childhood crush. I would think it would take a little while to get used to the idea that the guy is on the same side. But no. And it's not even a mutal crush in this book. We have both Jules and Liam throwing around the L-word when they've barely interacted at all for the couple of weeks they've agreed to be allies. Makes zero sense.
I'm really sad I didn't end up enjoying Evermore, because as I said, I did really love Everless. But overall, the book just didn't work for me.
Content
Recommended for ages 15 and up.
Mild swearing fairly infrequently. Characters drink alcohol.
A few sexual references. A minor character is an illegitimate child of a nobleman. One fade-to-black scene implies sex between a couple, not detailed.
Violence is moderate. Blood is used as currency, though not as often as in Everless. Several scenes involving combat; characters are injured. A character plans to murder another.
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