Everless is one of the books that I actually listened to on Audible. I’m always a bit apprehensive when I purchase an audiobook because it’s a lot money to waste on something that might have a narrator that you can’t connect with, and won’t be able to listen to for 10 hours. LUCKILY, I really liked the narrator for Everless. She made the story come to life and voiced the characters so well!

In the land of Sempera, the rich control everything – even time. Ever since the age of alchemy and sorcery, hours, days and years have been extracted from blood and bound to iron coins. The rich live for centuries; the poor bleed themselves dry.

Jules and her father are behind on their rent and low on hours. To stop him from draining himself to clear their debts, Jules takes a job at Everless, the grand estate of the cruel Gerling family.

There, Jules encounters danger and temptation in the guise of the Gerling heir, Roan, who is soon to be married. But the web of secrets at Everless stretches beyond her desire, and the truths Jules must uncover will change her life for ever … and possibly the future of time itself.

At first, I couldn’t connect with the story and the world-building. There just wasn’t enough ‘ummpphhh’ for me to really get into it. But after a few chapters, that all changed.

Holland got the pacing JUST right, and I was thrown into a world where there was loads of political intrigue, romance, enemies, and mystery. It’s pretty much got all of the ingredients that I look for in YA fantasy, and I genuinely think that Holland executed it really well.

There were a few moments where I DID find myself getting slightly annoyed with the romance element of the book. I just couldn’t connect with the main romance and I didn’t think that there was any chemistry at all (but this IS actually built upon in the end of the book). There IS the trope of the slow burning hate-to-love romance, but I do actually love this trope so much. I know that it’s completely overdone in pretty much every genre, but I don’t know… There’s something about that particular trope that I love reading. Don’t @ me. Even though I’ve said that there is a ‘main’ romance, THERE ACTUALLY ISN’T THAT MUCH ROMANCE WHICH IS AMAZING AND I LOVE HOLLAND FOR DOING THAT. Holland focuses mainly on the plot, whilst bringing in romantic elements here and there. But it’s not the sole focus of the novel. For me, I think that there’s more focus on female relationships and how the women in the novel lean on each other for help.

“I know better than to be afraid of stories”

― Sara Holland, Everless

As for the actual story itself, I think that the thin that sticks out for me the most are the plot twists. THEY ARE CRAZY AND I DID NOT SEE THEM COMING AT ALL! The pacing of the plot twists are good as well; they don’t all happen at the end, they’re spread out throughout the story. BUT, there are quite a few at the end, because I mean… c’mon, the ending HAS to be enticing enough to keep us wanting more. And that’s exactly what it did. I actually remember that I was listening to Everless whilst I was washing my car, and when I was at about 80%, I suddenly just stopped, sponge hanging in mid air because I was so grasped by the story. About 10 minutes later, I realised that I was dripping water onto my leg. The book was so captivating.

I’ve actually heard quite a few people say that they didn’t like it at all, and whilst I can see where they are coming from when they pointed out what they didn’t like about it, personally, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The one bit that I do 100% agree on with the negative reviews is the flimsy plot line of the Alchemist. I felt like it wasn’t built upon enough and it just felt… meh? Hopefully, this will be expanded on in Evermore, because it’s an interesting plot point, and it’s vital to the story, but I just don’t think that part of the story was written as well as the rest of the novel.

Overall, this was such an enjoyable read, and it definitely lived up to the hype. To be honest, I can’t wait for Evermore to come out. I think I’m also going to listen to Evermore on Audible because the narrator for Everless was amazing!

Disclaimer: this book was sent to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review