Teen/YA Review: Everfound

Happy Halloween (one day late)!  I have been preparing for Halloween by reading some spooky books this month (see my review of Magisterium), and what is spookier than ghosts?  Everfound by Neal Schusterman, the third and final book in his Skinjacking trilogy that started with Everlost, was a satisfying conclusion to an excellent series.

This is going to be tricky (get it?  tricky on Halloween?), but I’m going to try to tell you about the third book without giving away what happens in the first two books because if you haven’t read this series yet, you are really missing out….and you need to start at the beginning.

Everlost is the world that exists in between the living world and the dead world.  It is populated only by children and teens who are not yet ready to head into the light and “get where they are going.”  There, kids can see the real world but can not interact with it or change it.  The exception are skinjackers, a certain minority of the kids in Everlost who can temporarily take over a living body and thereby interact with the living world.

Many of the same main characters from earlier books play key roles in Everfound:  Allie the Outcast, Nick the Chocolate Ogre, Mary Hightower, and Mikey the McGill.  They are joined in this third and final book by two new characters.  Jix is a furjacker – a skinjacker who likes to take over big cats – sent by the Mayan King of Everlost to find out more about Mary.  Mary, as before, is intent on controlling all of Everlost, though her plans have become more sinister than before. Some of the skinjackers, led by Milos, have figured out how to bring more children into Everlost to increase the size and strength of Mary’s growing army.  All of the kids are terrified by the appearance of a scar wraith, the most feared type of being in all of Everlost, a person who is half in the living world and half in Everlost and whose touch is said to be capable of extinguishing the Everlost child he touches forever.

As Mary’s power grows and her army of skinjackers becomes more powerful, Allie, Nick, Mikey, Jix, and the others realize they must set aside their differences in order to save Everlost – and the living world – from Mary’s evil plans.  As with the first two books, Everfound is fast-paced and full of suspense, with plenty of likeable characters to root for.  I loved it, and my husband and son can’t wait to read it next!

500 pages, Simon & Schuster

Simon & Schuster Audio

 

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

 

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