Review: Everland by Wendy Spinale

Title: Everland

Author: Wendy Spinale

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Publishing Date: May 10th, 2016

Pages: 312
Audio Length: 8 Hours and 55 Minutes

Genre: YA Fantasy Retelling

Series: Everland

Source: Audio

 

The only way to grow up is to survive.
London has been destroyed in a blitz of bombs and disease. The only ones who have survived the destruction and the outbreak of a deadly virus are children, among them sixteen-year-old Gwen Darling and her younger siblings, Joanna and Mikey. They spend their nights scavenging and their days avoiding the deadly Marauders—the German army led by the cutthroat Captain Hanz Otto Oswald Kretschmer.
Unsure if the virus has spread past England’s borders but desperate to leave, Captain Hook is on the hunt for a cure, which he thinks can be found in one of the surviving children. He and his Marauders stalk the streets snatching children for experimentation. None ever return.
Until one day when they grab Joanna. Gwen will stop at nothing to get her sister back, but as she sets out, she crosses paths with a daredevil named Pete. Pete offers the assistance of his gang of Lost Boys and the fierce sharpshooter Bella, who have all been living in a city hidden underground. But in a place where help has a steep price and every promise is bound by blood, it might cost Gwen more than she bargained for. And are Gwen, Pete, the Lost Boys, and Bella enough to outsmart the ruthless Captain Hook?

See my original Everland review here

What made me pick this book up: 

I remember at BEA one of our blog buddies had the ARC of it and it sounded interesting to me. 

What did I like about the cover: 

I love how simple it is, it's really pretty. And I love the gold and how it shows Bella with her wings on the front.

What made me read this book: 

Because steampunk and Peter Pan. The whole synopsis sounded amazing.

What did I like the most: 

I honestly really liked the whole book.

The synopsis is really unique and interesting. The whole virus taking over and then it's an apocalypse plus the whole steampunk thing. I love anything with steampunk.

Then you add in the whole Peter Pan retelling. 

I love the creative ways the author changed the names. Pete for Peter, Bella for Tinkerbelle. 

The characters are well written, the story is unique and interesting, the writing is well done and has a really great pace. 

What didn't I like: 

I loved all of it.

Would I read the rest of the series/more from this author?
Yes!!

It's amazing. I loved it just as much the second time I read it.

“Pete?" I say, my voice crackling. "Please don't die."
Pete gives me a dazzling smile and bows. "To die will be an awfully big adventure." He blows me a kiss and pulls the heavy door shut with a metallic clank, leaving me alone in the dark.” 
― Wendy Spinale, Everland

Wendy is the author of the Everland series. She is a former Disneyland actress and online journalist. She currently resides in California with her three sons, two dogs, a chinchilla, and hamster.