Everless (Everless #1) by Sara Holland
In a world where payments are made with blood time, Jules and her father are barely scrapping by. In an effort to earn back more time for her father, Jules decides to work at Everless, the one place her father doesn’t want her to go back to, and to serve the people who have essentially put her into hiding.
The Story
So this book has been compared to the movie In Time, which I think have seen once, but don’t remember anything about, so I can’t really say anything on that part. I did find the book intriguing if not slightly depressing at the same time. The book is definitely driven by the mystery of Everless and the success of the characters coming out on top.
There were a few things that did however grate on my nerves. Time and time again, Jules is sort of warned about where or what she is doing, yet she goes in head strong, risking her life for a simple answer. There is a simple mystery that she is trying to solve, but the entire time I kept wondering why? Why not take what you have and start over? Why keep involving yourself more unnecessarily?
I feel like the next installment of the book has the potential to bring the series justice. What we need is a little more connection between what happened and why it’s important for Jules to be doing what she’s doing, I am sorry but mere curiosity and basic survival just isn’t cutting it (there is a twist at the end that really needs to be expanded on..and explained better)
The World Building
I liked the idea that people could live forever if they were rich enough to obtain time from others where the poor end up toiling away only to have their remaining time taken away from them anyway. It really shines the light on the idea that time is money. There really wasn’t much world building aside from the magical elements surrounding the time letting. I would have liked to get more about the origins and why currency was changed to time.
There are some magical elements that sort of pop out of nowhere and aren’t exactly explained well enough, such as Everless’ magical vault door. I am really hoping that the magical elements are explored a little bit more in the next book.
The Characters
Jules was the worst. I felt like she was so dumb and naive. I wanted to reach my hand right up into this book and smack her. Really? This girl really had her blinders on to so many obvious things. It was really hard for me to sit around reading about such a stupid, yet curious, character, I think I would much rather have an arrogant smart ass of a main character. The relationships she develops are incredibly shallow and makes me wonder why she is so willing to befriend and trust so many people.
The Soundtrack
Don Diablo ft. Ansel Elgort – Believe
