Everless Hardcover – Deckle Edge, January 2, 2018

Everless is a book that's been on my radar for quite some time. There has been a lot of hype around its debut, and I'm happy to tell you that it's completely warranted. It's hard to go into any YA book these days, particularly in the fantasy realm, that isn't rife with overly saturated tropes and unoriginal plot ideas. While I have rated this book 5 stars, I will say that Sara's debut isn't completely unblemished. She does run into a few road bumps that new authors bump into, mainly her major info-dumping at the beginning of the book. However, it didn't affect my rating for the simple fact that fantasy books both YA and Adult require a fair amount of info-dumping in order to gain a proper world-building foundation. It comes with the territory. She also struggled a bit with some of her mythology in terms of its clarity, however the deeper you dive into the book, the clearer it becomes. The premise in itself is what will keep readers drawn in. It's fresh and deeply intriguing.Sara Holland gives a new and sinister meaning behind the common phrase, "running out of time". Everless introduces us to a world that revolves around time as currency. A person's time can be drained by draining your blood and turning it into iron pieces. Those same pieces can be dissolved into liquid in order to consume them and add time to one's life. Punishments are often dished out by draining one's blood in order to take their time. This is the sadistic equivalent to paying a fine in our world. The rich in Everless world have the most time at their disposal and can realistically live for a long time. Our protagonist Jules Ember and those like her are poor, and must bleed themselves often in order to pay their rent and obtain other bare necessities in order to survive, cutting their life-span down all of the time. It's this kind of world-building that makes me deeply appreciate its originality. It's bleak and it impacts the reader by forcing us to understand the protagonist's plight.Jules takes a job at Everless, the estate of the Gerlings, after she's tired of seeing her father become sick from bleeding his life away in order for them to survive. The Gerlings are one of the wealthiest and significant families in all of Sempera, and they have a history with Jules and her Papa. There are many secrets to Jules past that she must uncover, and we get to see how her life quickly unravels as her trials begin to seem insurmountable. Jules' father always told her to stay away from Everless but of course she doesn't listen. Protagonist never do.Holland subverts common tropes found with the genre of YA and she keeps readers on their toes. The most easiest to point out is the romance in her story. The romance isn't as cut and dry as we are lead to believe and the book's ending completely throws everything we knew out the window and brings us back to square one. Appearances are definitely deceiving in Everless and the book's ending plot twist definitely threw me for a loop, which is saying something about Holland because it's hard not to predict things in YA books these days.I don't always share quotes but one quote stood out in particular in regards to the imagery of just how bleak the world of Everless is,An older couple, two women with backs curved with too much work and too few years, hunch over a small table in the corner, taking turns cutting each other's palms and letting the blood flow into empty vials. I wonder if they're putting time away for their children.Parents are shedding their years by shedding their blood in order to keep their children alive. It's quite sad but it's also a critique on our own world, because isn't that what our parents do for us when we're children, particularly if our family is poor? They work all their lives in order to settle down, start a family, and build a better life for their children, one they didn't have growing up.Everless is lush and an intricately drawn out world that prides itself on secrets and plot twists. The finery and lavish beauty of the world hides the undercurrent of sinister motives and evil magic. Jules' story is an fresh and addictive page turner that will keep you up into the wee hours of the night. I know it definitely did for me. Be sure to pick it up ASAP!

I am extremely conflicted about what to rate this. I am waffling between 3 and 4 stars sooooo I'm going to call it a 3.75 rating.....not a thing?...it is here in my brain. Anywho, back to the review, I don't mind admitting it...my name is Beth and I suffer from Old Lady Syndrome at times. In order to combat my memory lapses I take notes periodically with the hope of remembering to put into words everything I felt along the way. At first I was disheartened with the pacing. Then there was the lack of character development and to be completely honest, the plot as a whole was flailing. Yes the writing was very good. Yes the premise was unique BUT it felt very much like a setup book where there is very little going on definitively...no meat, no potatoes, just me starving for a decent plot, skimming and flitting about all the while stewing in resentment- waiting for book #2 to come out so that things can finally start in earnest. Around 64% there was still nothing major going on. The MC suffered from the doldrums and nothing was holding my attention fully. The identity of Jules's parents and the reasoning behind why the queen was so feared were the most interesting questions posed and even those inquiries did not compel me to keep turning pages. Only the preorder price and my own stubbornness kept me going. All of these factors usually amount to a surefire recipe for disaster BUT I am elated to report that I persisted! Not only did I persist but the last 30% was redemption incarnate!! And that ending...oh boy that ending left me fiending for more. I ended up loving someone I initially loathed (as we were often led to do) and detesting someone that I had eventually warmed up to (although done so with a healthy amount of well earned trepidation). The main twist blindsided me. The way in which it unraveled, though laborered in the beginning, was skilfully crafted. As it approached the finish line it commanded my attention and I ate it up in record time. Now now, I know some of you can inhale books at an inhuman rate (and I'm more jealous about that than I care to admit) BUT here I reference my own (oft times sluggish) pace so please take the previous statement with a grain of salt.In the end I found myself caring for the characters which was a wonderous feat in and of itself because I would have balked at that claim around the halfway mark.Anyway, I highly recommend this book and if you find yourself hung up, dejected and thinking of putting it in the DNF pile then I hope you persevere as well because the ending is not only twisty and turny but it also sets up high expectations for the next book in the series. Happy reading!

Finally. FINALLY. It had been such a long time since I read a book I could get completely absorbed in — a book I'd want to make last as long as I could because I'd hate for it to end. But this one fit the bill, and what a great way to start 2019.Everless by Sara Holland is about a world where time is currency; people's blood is siphoned and turned into coin, which can be consumed to add days, weeks, months, or even years to someone's lifespan. The poor sell their time to pay for rent or a loaf of bread, while the rich dissolve coins in their wine or tea and live for centuries. The concept alone is intriguing. But then you consider Jules, a fascinating and flawed protagonist who runs away from home to earn more time as a servant at Everless to keep her father alive, despite his mysterious warnings to stay away from Everless. The protagonist and this plot sucks you in, and Sara's beautiful and haunting writing keeps you spellbound.Jules doesn't always make the best decisions, and doesn't always have all the answers, but that's what made her so real to me — and so fun to root for. I also LOVED the romance in this book (no spoilers so I won't say which part I loved best *cough*the ending*cough*); it was only a relatively small subplot, but kept me intrigued, and I can't wait to see what happens next. I just bought Evermore and am so excited to get lost in Sempera again.