Review - Everfound (The Skinjacker Trilogy, Book 3) by Neal Shusterman (4/5 stars)

Reading level: Middle Grade/YA
Genre: Fantasy
Size: 512 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Release Date: May 3, 2011
ISBN-13: 978-1416990499
Stand Alone or Series: 3rd (and final) book in the Skinjacker Trilogy
Source: Audiobook from Audible.com
Rating: 4/5 stars

This is the third and final book in The Skinjacker Trilogy.  It ends the series well and continues to be an extremely creative series that delves into interesting questions surrounding life and death.  I listened to this on audio book and it was very well done.

Mary Hightower has been sent back to sleep as an Interlight, Allie is strapped to the front of Mary's train, Mikey is on his way down to the center of the earth, and Nick (the chocolate ogre) has been blasted to pieces.  This book starts out a little time after the second book ended.  Things are falling apart; Allie wants to defeat Mary's army of Afterlights in hopes of stopping Mary's plan to destroy the living world but she is trapped on the train carrying Mary's sleeping body.  Some new characters are added to the fray; enter Jix an Afterlight sent to retrieve Mary by the King of the City of Souls and Clarence a skin-wraith that can extinguish Afterlights with just a touch.

There is a lot that happens in this book.  The characters are all acting how they think is best, but they don't know what the other characters are doing so there are a lot of twists and turns as their story threads come together.  There are a number of things in this story that happen and you think, huh...what did that have to do with anything?  In the end though everything in this story had a purpose to serve.  Shusterman does an excellent job of creating a complicated story with numerous story threads that all come together nicely to create a well-thought out book.

The characters continue to be a mix of good and bad and are very human.  Mary has decided that to save everyone she needs to destroy the living world; she is evil in her intent but her reasoning makes sense to her and this makes her surprisingly human.  The same can be said of many of the characters.  Ally is trying to save the living world, but in doing so ends up being just as ruthless as Mary in some cases.  Mikey has tried to leave the monster part of himself behind, but can't quite stop playing the monster.  All of these characters are shades of grey and they are all doing what they think is best for humanity.

Jackin Jill plays a large role in this story, as does Jix an Afterlight that has taken on decidedly Jaguar features and is present at the request of the king of The City of Souls.

Shusterman pays a lot of attention to detail so all of the mechanics behind Afterlights and inanimate objects going over to Everlost are well explained and interesting to read about.  This is a well thought out and very creative book.  The book is tied up nicely and the epilogue ties up all of the characters loose threads.

At times it did seem like too much is happening, so it took the story a long time to spin itself out.  Everything did happen for a reason, but some of the diversions the characters took (for example the whole Wurlitzer part) got a bit lengthy.

Overall fans of this series should find this book to be a very satisfying conclusion to the series.  The plot is well done, the characters very life-like, and the world incredibly creative.  There were a couple times that I thought side stories were drawn out too long; the characters all take very twisty paths to the final battle.  I am in awe of Shusterman's ability to think through the complexities of this world and in awe with his creativity.  I will definitely be picking up some of Shusterman's other books to read.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- 100+ Reading Challenge
- Audio Book Challenge List

Everwild (Skinjacker Trilogy, Book 2) by Neal Shusterman (4/5 stars)

This is the second book in the Skinjacker Trilogy by Neal Shusterman. I got this through the Amazon Vine program to review. It was just as good as the first book in the trilogy; reading the first book before this one is a must. This book takes up the story where the last book left off.

Mary Hightower is trying to build an army to collect Afterlights to her way of life, she strongly believes that dwelling in the Everlost is a gift. Nick, now better known as the monstrous chocolate Ogre, is trying to send children on from Everlost by giving them their coins back and letting them move on to death in Peace. Mary and Nick are in a battle against each other that could be come the largest conflict Everlost has ever seen. Meanwhile Allie and Mikey (the former horrible McGill Monster) are traveling to Allie's parents' new house when they run into Milos. Milos is another Skinjacker, like Allie, and he has a lot to teach her about the Skinjackers' world. In the end the all of our main cast of characters are drawn together to decide what will become of the Afterlights in Everlost.

This was a great book. The wonderful characters from the first book all have their parts to play. We learn a lot more about Mikey McGill and Allie learns a lot more about what she can do as a Skinjacker. You also get the addition of a wonderful new characters in Milos and Zinnia (who is a ripper).

The strength of this book is the extremely creative world of Everlost and the idea of a transition world between life and death that only exists for children. There is a lot of action in this story and the book propels itself forward as you wonder what Mary's plans are for takeover over Everlost and you wonder what lengths Nick will go to stop her. Then of course there is the side story of Allie and her journey back to her parents.

The book ends kind of in the middle of the story, but the main story arc of this book is wrapped up. Still, I can't wait to see what happens to these characters in the last book of the trilogy.

A very creative and engaging book; this is another in the series that I can recommend to all ages. It is full of adventure and interesing powers. Yet, it touches on questions of death, love, and loyalty too. A wonderful read.

Everlost by Neal Shusterman (4/5 stars)

This was a very interesting and captivating read. I actually listened to this on audio book and it was very well done.

Nick and Allie are two passengers in different cars that collide in a head-on collision. When they wake they find that they are in the forest beside where the car accident happened. Watching over them is a boy named Leaf. Leaf informs them that they have been sleeping for 6 months and are in Everlost and are now Afterlights. Afterlights are kids who didn't quite make it to where they were going when they died. Afterlights can only dwell in places of the world that have been lost or places that have died in the living world; if they try to stay still in the living world they sink to the center of the Earth. Just like the living world, there are powers that be in Everlost. They stumble upon one Mary Hightower who takes lost Afterlights under her wing. Nick is content to stay with Mary but Allie is not so sure. Allie thinks there is more to life after death than eternal repetition and is determine to find a way either back to life or to true death.

This was a very creative and engaging read. The two characters have very believable reactions to finding out they are not quite dead. The world of Everlost is interesting; especially the theory surrounding how inanimate objects can end up in Everlost. The plot moves along at a good clip and I was never bored or struggling to stay interested. Everlost is an amazing world and the characters are constantly finding new things about it as time progresses. The book also has a pretty good sense of humor, and there were a number of places where I chortled a bit at the coincidence of everything. It was interesting that Shusterman included the Twin Towers as a place in Everlost; I guess it was his way of commemorating the significant loss of both that landmark and the lives associated with it.

All of the characters are believable and easy to relate to. The characters are also very well balanced out. There were some aspects of our heroes that were less than endearing and some aspects of the villains that made you sympathize with them.

The only thing that struck me as a bit odd was how Shusterman incorporated current day legends or haunting into the book. For example at one point Allie ends up at the Amityville house. I am still trying to decided if these scenes were clever or just plain odd.

Overall I liked this book and the premise. This in one of those books that I will think back to quite often. The way it deals with life after death and moving on from a state of half-death is as interesting and this book is engaging; which is to say very. I think young adults or older would enjoy this book. It could also be read to younger children but the heavy topic of death might be a bit scary for them.