Evermore
Author: Sara Holland
Published by:Orchard Books
Pages: 350
Format:Hardback
My Rating ★★★★
Time is a weapon. Only she can use it.
Long ago, I stole the Sorceress’s heart. Now she wants it back.
As a child, Jules Ember was taught that the wicked Alchrmist stole the good Sorceress’s heart, dooming her people to live and die by the time captured in their blood and preserved in their currency. While the rich thrive for centuries, the poor are lucky to scrape together a few years.
But Jules has just learned the truth: she is the Alchemist and Caro – a woman ewho single-handedly murdered the Queen and Jules’ first love, Roan, in cold blood – is the Sorceress.
Now Caro will stop at nothing to destroy Jules and reclaim her heart. Forced to flee Everless, Jules must delve into the stories she once believed to be legends but that she now recognises are accounts of her own dangerous past. For it is only be piecing together the mysteries of her first life that Jules will be able to save the boy she’s falling in love with – and end the Sorceress forever.
My thoughts:
Evermore is the sequel to Sara Holland’s Everless, which I read and reviewed last year, giving it five stars! Right from the start of this duology I absolutely loved the premise of these characters living in a world where time is bound to blood, and people exchange blood and time currency to live. The whole story of Everless just felt really original and unique throughout, so naturally I was eager to read the recently released Evermore, which continues the story in new and exciting ways.
The concept of Everless was intriguing and magical, it drew me in right away, and despite how long it had been since reading the first book, I found myself really quickly pulled back into this incredibly detailed and rich world created by Sara Holland.
In this sequel, the use of time as currency did not play quite as much of a role in the story, which I thought was a shame, as it was probably the most interesting aspect of Everless for me. The first book really explored how being able to buy and sell time from someone’s life would affect people, and society at large, which I found gripping and highly original.
Evermore focuses more on character development and the important people in Jules’ world. I really liked the twists and turns in the story as she began to better understand the link between herself and Caro, but was slightly less interested in the brooding romance between Jules and Liam Gerling, which at times felt a little predictable in my opinion.
Within the first chapters of Evermore, I found myself thrown right back into Jules world head-first, and there wasn’t much time to catch a breath. The book begins as Jules has returned to Crofton, wanting to find Amma, who appeared briefly in book one. However, a very dangerous Caro is waiting for her, and as a result, Jules is quickly captured and thrown in prison.
Eventually she escapes, and whilst on the run, she begins to tie together puzzles, stories, and fragments of memories, which she hopes will help her to destroy the Sorceress for good. In fact, most of this book follows Jules on the run while she searches her past for any way to defeat her.
For me, Evermore definitely felt more like a conventional fantasy read, despite the first book also falling into the science-fiction genre at times. I liked the further details included in Evermore about the magic system and thought the mythological links were very interesting, but I’m not sure it thrilled me quite as much as reading part one.
What really makes this series stand out for me personally is the very creative magic system, the exploration of time, and using blood iron as currency. The writing in both books is fantastic, gripping and imaginative, and Holland has built an intoxicating fantasy world with rich characters and detailed backstories.
I loved the final few chapters of Evermore in particular, and felt that the ending was maybe the strongest part of the book – previously unanswered questions were nicely concluded, but there still remained a lingering suggestion that perhaps there is more to this story…
While I had hoped it would be as exciting and mysterious as Everless, Evermore is certainly a worthy sequel and will give you all the answers you’re looking for!
I will absolutely be reading more from Sara Holland in future.
Overall reaction:
Published by:Orchard Books
Pages: 350
Format:Hardback
My Rating ★★★★
Time is a weapon. Only she can use it.
Long ago, I stole the Sorceress’s heart. Now she wants it back.
As a child, Jules Ember was taught that the wicked Alchrmist stole the good Sorceress’s heart, dooming her people to live and die by the time captured in their blood and preserved in their currency. While the rich thrive for centuries, the poor are lucky to scrape together a few years.
But Jules has just learned the truth: she is the Alchemist and Caro – a woman ewho single-handedly murdered the Queen and Jules’ first love, Roan, in cold blood – is the Sorceress.
Now Caro will stop at nothing to destroy Jules and reclaim her heart. Forced to flee Everless, Jules must delve into the stories she once believed to be legends but that she now recognises are accounts of her own dangerous past. For it is only be piecing together the mysteries of her first life that Jules will be able to save the boy she’s falling in love with – and end the Sorceress forever.
My thoughts:
Evermore is the sequel to Sara Holland’s Everless, which I read and reviewed last year, giving it five stars! Right from the start of this duology I absolutely loved the premise of these characters living in a world where time is bound to blood, and people exchange blood and time currency to live. The whole story of Everless just felt really original and unique throughout, so naturally I was eager to read the recently released Evermore, which continues the story in new and exciting ways.
The concept of Everless was intriguing and magical, it drew me in right away, and despite how long it had been since reading the first book, I found myself really quickly pulled back into this incredibly detailed and rich world created by Sara Holland.
In this sequel, the use of time as currency did not play quite as much of a role in the story, which I thought was a shame, as it was probably the most interesting aspect of Everless for me. The first book really explored how being able to buy and sell time from someone’s life would affect people, and society at large, which I found gripping and highly original.
Evermore focuses more on character development and the important people in Jules’ world. I really liked the twists and turns in the story as she began to better understand the link between herself and Caro, but was slightly less interested in the brooding romance between Jules and Liam Gerling, which at times felt a little predictable in my opinion.
Within the first chapters of Evermore, I found myself thrown right back into Jules world head-first, and there wasn’t much time to catch a breath. The book begins as Jules has returned to Crofton, wanting to find Amma, who appeared briefly in book one. However, a very dangerous Caro is waiting for her, and as a result, Jules is quickly captured and thrown in prison.
Eventually she escapes, and whilst on the run, she begins to tie together puzzles, stories, and fragments of memories, which she hopes will help her to destroy the Sorceress for good. In fact, most of this book follows Jules on the run while she searches her past for any way to defeat her.
For me, Evermore definitely felt more like a conventional fantasy read, despite the first book also falling into the science-fiction genre at times. I liked the further details included in Evermore about the magic system and thought the mythological links were very interesting, but I’m not sure it thrilled me quite as much as reading part one.
What really makes this series stand out for me personally is the very creative magic system, the exploration of time, and using blood iron as currency. The writing in both books is fantastic, gripping and imaginative, and Holland has built an intoxicating fantasy world with rich characters and detailed backstories.
I loved the final few chapters of Evermore in particular, and felt that the ending was maybe the strongest part of the book – previously unanswered questions were nicely concluded, but there still remained a lingering suggestion that perhaps there is more to this story…
While I had hoped it would be as exciting and mysterious as Everless, Evermore is certainly a worthy sequel and will give you all the answers you’re looking for!
I will absolutely be reading more from Sara Holland in future.
Overall reaction:
