Everlost by Neal Shusterman (2006)
Well realised: satisfying
Book cover blurb
Nick and Allie don't survive the car accident...
...but their souls don't exactly get where they're supposed to get either. Instead, they're caught halfway between life and death, in a sort of limbo known as Everlost: a shadow of the living world, filled with all the things and places that no longer exist. It's a magical, yet dangerous place where bands of lost children run wild and anyone who stands in the same place too long sinks to the centre of the Earth.
When they find Mary, the self-proclaimed queen of lost kids, Nick feels like he's found a home, but Allie isn't satisfied spending eternity between worlds. Against all warnings, Allie begins learning the "Criminal Art" of haunting, and ventures into dangerous territory, where a monster called the McGill threatens all the souls of Everlost.
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My Review
I bought Neal Shusterman's Scythe trilogy, but before I started in on it I read a little bit about this book. I thought it sounded really intriguing and it might be a good introduction to Shusterman’s writing, since I'm new to this author. And it’s quite a short read.
I hadn't realised, when I bought it, it was aimed at such a young audience. I'm getting quite tired of YA books at the moment and am more interested in darker, more adult novels. So I spent the first few chapters in a slump and quite negative just because of the book's target audience. But by the time I passed the halfway point I was really enjoying myself, and once I read the final page I'd already decided I'd have to hit eBay and hunt down the other two books in the trilogy. I should hurry up and read the Scythe series too.
Yes, this book is aimed at a young audience but it still managed to hold my interest. The pacing is really good, the characters are interesting, different and manage to get you emotionally involved in their circumstances. It's a very simple and easy story to follow with no real groundbreaking ideas, but it is a well-realised and satisfyingly revealed world. The idea of the dead having nothing to fear is turned on its head here, and I have to admit a couple of the torturous torments that befall some of these characters are actually quite horrifying.
This is a great little book and I'm really pleased I picked it up.
My copy of this novel
Simon & Schuster hardback edition.
Published in 2006
313 pages
ISBN 9780689872372