Tatiana's Reviews > Everlost

Everlost by Neal Shusterman
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bookshelves: 2011, children-s-middle-school

Everlost reminded me of several books I felt rather lukewarm about - Elsewhere, Lord of the Flies and Gone. It deals with afterlife (specifically, the limbo between life and death) and kids behaving badly when left on their own.

I can see why fans of Unwind would be underwhelmed by Everlost. I was too, a little. It is a good book, but it is clearly a children's book. There are no adults in it, the characters are all under 15. Even when the story handles very serious matters (that scared and creeped me out BTW), it does so in a manner suitable for children - the villains, the torture devices (a pickle barrel?) and violence are of a milder type.

Even though I knew from the get-go Everlost would never be one of my favorite books, once I made a decision to stick with the story anyway, I came to like it a lot and even developed a good amount of affection for its characters. Shusterman's vision of mid-existence struck my imagination. The boredom, uneventfulness, the obliteration of one's identity - DEPRESSING! If this is what being stuck in a limbo would be, I don't see how it is better than hell.

For those who dropped the book early on asked me if it gets better, here is my answer - it doesn't really. But I eventually got interested enough in the story to want to read the sequels and to see how it all ends. I just wish this series was written with an older set of characters and gorier details to go along with already sufficiently disturbing and mature concept.
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Reading Progress

April 30, 2011 – Started Reading
April 30, 2011 – Shelved
April 30, 2011 –
page 36
11.5%
April 30, 2011 –
page 76
24.28%
May 1, 2011 –
page 210
67.09%
May 1, 2011 – Shelved as: 2011
May 1, 2011 – Shelved as: children-s-middle-school
May 1, 2011 – Finished Reading

Comments Showing 1-18 of 18 (18 new)

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message 1: by Limonessa (new) - added it

Limonessa I didn't get past 100 pages of this book. It felt like more middle grade than young adult to me


Tatiana I feel the same way.


Hannah It's definitely geared toward the 10-13 year old set, I think.


Peep (Pop! Pop!) I tried to read it but gave up on it. I was told to give it another go because it's good. Something about the bad guy...


★ Jess I thought it was 'just average'. Enjoyable, but not great.
That was for the first 70-ish pages. Then it got amazing :D I hope you enjoy it! This is the book that hooked me on Shusterman.


Kristen "Kirby" Yeah, I tried this one after unwind. It is indeed very kiddish and I found it to be oober boring. Good review! Won't be picking this back up.


message 7: by Flannery (new) - added it

Flannery Torture by pickle barrel? The only thing I got is sticking someone's head under water...is that what it is?


Tatiana Sort of. These bad guys stuff their victims into these barrels with pickle juice. For days or years. The ghosts can't be drowned.


message 9: by Limonessa (new) - added it

Limonessa Interesting you made the analogy with Gone. That is the other book I dropped because I found too childish. The story is good but I just cannot relate to the characters.


message 10: by Milly (new)

Milly Thanks for reviewing it! It's in my TBR pile but I haven't picked it up since I wasn't so sure about the plot. Your review's very helpful and I'm still at limbo about reading it. :)


Tatiana LOL, Milly:) This is a difficult book to recommend. I am just not sure who would really like it.


Avery This is definitely a young adult book, but I don't think I would go so far as to call it a children's novel. There are some very mature concepts that kids younger than 11 would have difficulty comprehending. This book, along with Shusterman's other novels are very eerie, but make for an interesting read if you are into that kind of thing. I am, and I thoroughly enjoyed Everlost.


Aubrey B no, everlost has the creepy factor that elsewhere doesn't have. and it is a book for children. but the only thing i have against it is the name.


message 14: by Bj (new) - rated it 5 stars

Bj I loved the way he wrote this book. This is one of the few books I have wad that didn't have gory stuff in it. It's nice to take a break from that and I'm glad I got this book.


Kelsey I'm reading it now and think it's a really good book plus umm..not every "adult or young adult book has to have adults -.- in it" I'm 16 and like plus umm really? middle school? Really? WOW..


message 16: by Brandon (new)

Brandon Steele I almost asked how you didn't like gone, but the realized it has been years and I was a kid when I read it ha. I agree though I picked this up because I was caught my the concept and I truly feel like it could have been great if it were geared a little older. I felt it was very mild mannered.


message 17: by Eric (new) - rated it 5 stars

Eric Santiago I don't know, I LOVED this book and I'm 36 years old. Though the violence can be very youth oriented, there are many adult situations and themes that are explored. But the book oozes creativity and is a fun adventure for old and new alike. Cheers!


Evelyn Davis @Kelsey, agreed! Not every young adult book has to have adults. Also, The theme could be a little intense, and maybe that’s why the author toned everything else down so that teenagers could still read it and sleep at night.


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