Review - Ever

Ever
by Gail Carson Levine

Kezi is a talented weaver and dancer, living in the city of Hyte.  She lives happily with her mother and father, wanting for little except to marry a good man and grow old with him.

Olus is the Akkan god of the winds.  Out of loneliness, he leaves the company of his parents on Enshi Rock and goes to live among the mortals.  The beautiful mortal girl, Kezi, catches his eye... but he dares not reveal himself to her.

But when Kezi's mother falls ill, her father makes a dangerous bargain with the all-powerful god, Admat.  When her mother recovers, Kezi must be sacrificed.

In an attempt to save Kezi's life, she and Olus join forces to undertake a series of tasks.  As they do, they find themselves falling in love.  The stakes couldn't be higher... for, if they fail, Kezi will be lost forever.

I've wanted to read this book ever since reading (and enjoying) three of the author's other middle grade books: Ella Enchanted, The Two Princesses of Bamarre, and Fairest (I gushed about them here).  While I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as the others, I liked it enough to read most of it in one sitting.

Ever is classed as a middle grade book (ages 10 and up, actually), but the romance and the deeper themes about questioning blind faith and obedience make this book suitable for young adults as well.  Olus sounds absolutely dreamy; like many guys in YA fiction, he's depicted as god-like... but in this case, he actually is a god!  The story was told in alternating points of view, switching back and forth between Kezi and Olus.  I liked both main characters.  Olus might've been fairly one-dimensional in the hands of a less-skilled author, but he had some interesting traits that you wouldn't necessarily expect to find in a god.  Kezi was also a good character, more innocent and ignorant, but trusting and loving.  These are characters you can actually root for.

I must say, though, that I realized how much of my mind is in the gutter (much like that of a prepubescent boy) when I was reading this book.  I'm sure it was unintentionally funny, but I couldn't help suppressing some giggles whenever Olus referred to "my wind".  Especially the reference to his "wet" and "dangerous" winds.  This is not really a book for boys, though, so I'm sure most female readers are probably more mature than I am.  Wet and dangerous wind...  *snicker*  (Double entendres aside, being a god of the winds is actually pretty cool.  I don't think the story would have been quite the same had Olus been the god of something entirely different.)

All in all, this is a very enjoyable story.  Although it had a bit less of a fairytale feel (and more of a mythology feel) than some of Levine's other books, it might still appeal to the same audience.  I'd probably recommend it to kids over 12, though (I don't think I would have been thrilled with the kissing bits when I was 10).

Plot: 4/5
Characters: 3/5
Pace: 4/5
Writing: 4/5
Originality: 4/5

Overall: 3.8 out of 5

In My Mailbox (19)

100 Cupboards
by N. D. Wilson

Twelve-year-old Henry York wakes up one night to find bits of plaster in his hair. Two knobs have broken through the wall above his bed and one of them is slowly turning... Henry scrapes the plaster off the wall and discovers cupboards of all different sizes and shapes. Through one he can hear the sound of falling rain. Through another he sees a glowing room – with a man pacing back and forth! Henry soon understands that these are not just cupboards, but portals to other worlds.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox
by Mary Pearson

Seventeen-year-old Jenna Fox has just awoken from a year-long coma—so she’s been told—and she is still recovering from the terrible accident that caused it. But what happened before that? She’s been given home movies chronicling her entire life, which spark memories to surface. But are the memories really hers? And why won’t anyone in her family talk about the accident? Jenna is becoming more curious. But she is also afraid of what she might find out if she ever gets up the courage to ask her questions. What happened to Jenna Fox? And who is she really?

Ever
by Gail Carson Levine

Falling in love is easy...

... for Kezi, a beautiful mortal, dancer, and rug weaver, and for Olus, Akkan god of the winds. Their love brings Kezi the strength to fight her fate, and it gives Olus the strength to confront his fears. Together -- and apart -- they encounter spiders with webs of iron, the cruel lord of the land of the dead, the mysterious god of destiny, and the tests of the Akkan gods. If they succeed, they will be together; but if they fail, Olus will have to endure the ultimate loss, and Kezi will have to make the supreme sacrifice.

The Hunger Games
by Suzanne Collins

Katniss is a 16-year-old girl living with her mother and younger sister in the poorest district of Panem, the remains of what used be the United States. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, "The Hunger Games." The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed. When Kat's sister is chosen by lottery, Kat steps up to go in her place.

The Lost Hours
by Karen White

When Piper Mills was twelve, she helped her grandfather bury a box that belonged to her grandmother in the backyard. For twelve years, it remained untouched.

Now a near fatal riding accident has shattered Piper's dreams of Olympic glory. After her grandfather's death, she inherits the house and all its secrets, including a key to a room that doesn't exist — or does it? And after her grandmother is sent away to a nursing home, she remembers the box buried in the backyard. In it are torn pages from a scrapbook, a charm necklace — and a newspaper article from 1939 about the body of an infant found floating in the Savannah River. The necklace's charms tell the story of three friends during the 1930s — each charm added during the three months each friend had the necklace and recorded her life in the scrapbook. Piper always dismissed her grandmother as not having had a story to tell. And now, too late, Piper finds she might have been wrong.

The Patron Saint of Butterflies
by Cecilia Galante

Agnes and Honey have been best friends for as long as they can remember. But everything is about to change, from their friendship to the only home they’ve ever known: a religious commune called Mount Blessing. Agnes loves being a believer and following the rules of the commune, but Honey has started to rebel. Then, when Agnes and Honey experience the outside world (on the run, no less), their friendship is tested further. After all, when everything you’ve ever known turns out to be a lie, how do you find the truth? A powerful story of faith, doubt, abuse, and above all, friendship.

The Puzzle Ring
by Kate Forsyth

Hannah Rose Brown is twelve years old when she finds out that her family is cursed. Desperate to find the truth about her father's disappearance, she travels to her ancestral home in Scotland, and discover a chain of dark secrets that plunge her into different worlds, timeframes and dangers...

This week's weird mish-mash of genres is the result of finding some fabulous bargains (Ever and The Patron Saint of Butterflies in hardcover for less than $5 each!) and needing to add some more books to my order to get free shipping. So I turned to my wish list. I'm really excited to read some of these!



What was in your "mailbox" this week?



In My Mailbox was started by Kristi of The Story Siren.