Review: Everless by Sarah Holland

Title:  Everless 

Author:  Sara Holland
Publisher: HarperTeen 

Publishing Date: January 2nd, 2018

Pages: 368
Genre: YA Fantasy 

Series:  Everless #1
Source: Audio

 

In the kingdom of Sempera, time is currency—extracted from blood, bound to iron, and consumed to add time to one’s own lifespan. The rich aristocracy, like the Gerlings, tax the poor to the hilt, extending their own lives by centuries.

No one resents the Gerlings more than Jules Ember. A decade ago, she and her father were servants at Everless, the Gerlings’ palatial estate, until a fateful accident forced them to flee in the dead of night. When Jules discovers that her father is dying, she knows that she must return to Everless to earn more time for him before she loses him forever.

But going back to Everless brings more danger—and temptation—than Jules could have ever imagined. Soon she’s caught in a tangle of violent secrets and finds her heart torn between two people she thought she’d never see again. Her decisions have the power to change her fate—and the fate of time itself

This book was on my TBR way before the release date and I had the ARC, I kept putting it off last year. I finally settle down and read the book when I discovered it was on Audio. Audio just makes my life easier. I was so excited to dive into this read. I heard many wonderful things about the story. The story was good, however I had some issues that kept this book from really wowing me. 

Jules lives in a world where time is blood and blood is time. You pay with blood and earn blood. The more you pay and less you earn, the shorter your life. Draining your blood will age you. Jules has never been bled... she was too young. She is now 17 and need to find a way to pay for rent and other things that her father has been paying for. He doesn't have much time left. When her father refuses to allow her to pay she runs away to Everless. There she can work and earn time so that she may be able to save her father. Everless is not what she remembered and isn't what she thought. There are some very dark secrets in Everless and she may be smack in the middle of them all.... which of course puts her life in danger. 

This book was a good read. It had a very interesting story and I was fully invested in the story. I wanted to know what was going on, unfortunately it took a while to get there, but I enjoyed the journey for the most part. It was slow at times and I feel the book was a little longer than it needed to be. There was a lot of info dump and feelings explored. I think there may have been a little to much of this and not enough events happening. It felt it took a while to get to the point of know what was going on…. the real truth. I feel in fantasy books with a lot of information on building the world is great but there needs to be a good balance of world building, character development, and story movement. This book had 2 out of the 3. The story progressed very slow. I can say though by the end when the story did progress I was down that it was over and time for the next book… which will not be out until next year. This is one of those books I would have enjoyed more if I had the second book on hand. The ending was great… left me really yearning for the next book. Which is good. I think the second book will be so much better than this book. This was basically a build up book.

The world building was pretty amazing and it was all there. Everything I needed for world building. There wasn’t an over abundant amount and there was definitely enough for me to see and understand everything clearly. Not at first. It was revealed slowly… not too slowly though. It was just right enough to make me want to know more and have enough to see what I needed to see at the time of the story. I really liked the world in this book. I mean I didn’t like what was going on but the idea of it all was very intriguing. Not a place I want to live but was so very interesting. The world building was a plus in this book.

The characters were pretty on spot for me too. The main character was charming, interesting, and a little broken. Not so broken I couldn’t deal. She didn’t seem overly whiny but there was some things that she needed to work on. The life she lived was hard. Her father doing everything he can to keep them afloat and she wasn’t able to help in anyway. When she discovered a way to help out and do her part, she didn’t hesitate. Even when it went against her fathers wishes. She knew what she had to do…. She just didn’t know what the consequences would be. Of course this is due to secrets being kept from her.

Some of the secondary characters I liked but they were never a big part of the book. I especially liked Ina Gold. I kind of wished there would have been more of her in the book. She was a real sweetheart. Really this book was mainly about the main character and her part in everything. She had moments of interaction with other characters which was always good, but really the book is about her and her discoveries and growth.

Like I said, the only issue I really had with this book was the pacing and the lack of big moments happening until the end. It took a while to get there. The book wasn’t enjoyable but din’t have a wow factor either. Well until the end. The ending really grabbed me and for sure has me waiting anxiously for the next book.

A very slow burn til the explosion at the end type of read. If you have the patience, it’s worth the read.

Sara Holland grew up in small-town Minnesota among hundreds of books. She graduated from Wesleyan University and worked in a tea shop, a dentist’s office, and a state capitol building before heading to New York to work in publishing. These days, she can be found exploring the city’s bookstores or finding new ways to put caffeine in her bloodstream. EVERLESS is her debut novel.