Nick and Allie don't survive the car accident...
...but their souls don't exactly get where they're supposed to get either. Instead, they're caught halfway between life and death, in a sort of limbo known as Everlost: a shadow of the living world, filled with all the things and places that no longer exist. It's a magical, yet dangerous place where bands of lost children run wild and anyone who stands in the same place too long sinks to the center of the Earth.
When they find Mary, the self-proclaimed queen of lost kids, Nick feels like he's found a home, but Allie isn't satisfied spending eternity between worlds. Against all warnings, Allie begins learning the "Criminal Art" of haunting, and ventures into dangerous territory, where a monster called the McGill threatens all the souls of Everlost.
In this imaginative novel, Neal Shusterman explores questions of life, death, and what just might lie in between.
My Review:
It's been a long time since I've found an author (who is new to me) that I will buy their books simply because they wrote them. After this book, Neal Shusterman became one of them.
This series follows Nick and Allie, siblings who passed away in a car crash. They wake up and soon find themselves sinking into the ground. For, you see the dead can't walk on living ground. It's a crucial point to the story and is what set's Nick and Allie off to trust those they might never have in order to find "dead land" they won't sink through.
These two have their own "powers/abilities" in this world of the dead. They are separated at times and brought back together. They make hard choices and sometimes the wrong ones, but I love how they both choose to do what's right--even when they get a little lost on the way.
Mary is meant to be sweet and charming on the outside, but if you cross her you will see the monster she truly is. This limbo world is her kingdom and she won't let anyone throw her off the throne. What hurts my heart is that she preys on the smaller children's need for routine and the fact that they don't realize they are dead.
The McGill is terrifying, and yet a complete character. We get to see his thoughts and feelings and motivations. He's definitely more complex than I was expecting. And quite the good "bad guy."
This novel really makes you think about the choices you make in life. Although all these characters are dead, they are in limbo for a reason and they are all on a course to find out why they are still "living" in a sense.
Neal Shusterman had me walking next to his characters and right along with the action. It was as if I was right there with them. He was able to whisk me away completely, and that is a huge mark of a wonderful story-teller.
I also appreciate his ability to keep his books clean. More books need to be like this. Wholesome, while telling good stories.
I give this a 5 out of 5!
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