YA Book Review: Everless by Sara Holland

Title: Everless

Author: Sara Holland

Series: Untitled #1

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Publisher: Harper Teen 

Pub Date: January 2, 2018

Pages: 368

My Copy: Courtesy of Edelweiss and Harper Teen

Book Summary:

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.

Book Review:

  Jules Ember is a young woman who finds that things are not what she has been led to believe. I like that this book takes Jules through some of Sempera’s most interesting citizens. Also we get to learn that the Gerlings who run Everless have more time to live.

We learn that time in Sempera is currency. Meaning you pay for things with the time that you have left in your life line. Which means that you can use your time to pay off your debts in a way. Jules and her father used to live in a place called Everless, which is the home of the Gerlings. The Gerlings are the reason they left. Something happened and her father doesn’t want Jules to be anywhere near them. Yet there is a fairy tale she remembers. Also things happen where her father gets into some major trouble and the Gerlings coming to town make things a lot more tense. So of course after her father gets into trouble, she decides to give some of her own time to pay the debt, but ends up getting selected to go to Everless, because her friend convinces her to go try out to be selected as servants. 

Her father also told her to never to go to Everless. She is in terrible danger according to her father. We learn that there is something that he hasn’t told Jules. Jules think her father is losing his mind. We learn that there are reasons that things have been kept from her. In Everless she has some issues. There are people who don’t remember her. The Gerlings are a very interesting and powerful family. The Queen is very much of a person who terrifies people. We also get to hear the story of a sorceress who controls things. This will become more important as the fairy tale has more significance than anyone can see.

We learn the Queen is not well and she might die very soon. There is a new young woman who is betrothed to the younger brother and this woman might become Queen eventually. So she will inherit things. Also Jules meets a servant named Caro. Caro seems like she is a young woman who is there because she was born in Everless. We learn that there is so many layers in Everless. Jules also learns a lot more about herself. Plus we learn there is an Alchemist. The Alchemist is the one who makes time not a prison. 

This book takes a lot of twists and turn. Plus the romance wasn’t the most important thing in this book and I actually found myself not caring about it. This was more about introducing the world and how the world is structured. There are a lot of twists and turns. One of the twists was the big reveal of who Caro and Jules turned out to be. I didn’t expect that two characters were going to die. It was surprising. Plus now Caro and Jules are both enemies. We learn that Caro has been manipulating things and needs Jules to make sure she has what she needs, but Jules manages to escape and learns that her life is going to never be the same.

A solid first book in a young adult book. Kind of curious to see where the author goes with this series in the next book.

Rating: 

Four Hearts