Review by Booklist Review
Shusterman wraps up his Skinjacker trilogy with a satisfying, if long, concluding volume. New characters add to the drama: there's the furjacking spy Jix, who skinjacks into large cats instead of humans, and Clarence, a scar wraith who is trapped between the real world and Everlost. The action resumes right where it left off in volume two, but the stakes are raised, as both worlds are threatened. The Alamo and other famous sites continue to play a part, but it's the characters and action that will have fans of the series eager to find out how it all ends.--Dobrez, Cind. Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 8 Up-Following the cataclysmic confrontation between Nick, the Chocolate Ogre, and Mary Hightower at Graceland's vortex in Everwild (2009), the lives of many Afterlights (those who have died and are living in an alternate afterlife) in Everlost are drastically changed. Since Nick melted, his Afterlights were captured by Mary's loyal skinjackers and forced into captivity. As they race to catch the skinjackers' train and free Allie the Outcast, Mikey McGill and the partially restored Nick have no idea that Mary will eventually reawaken. Jinx, a new skinjacker, joins the train, intending to assist his Mayan King in bringing down the Eastern Witch. Meanwhile, Mikey meets a scar wraith, a man who was burned badly enough that he is part of both the living world and Everlost and holds the power to extinguish Everlost souls permanently. While the struggles for power in Everlost multiply, Allie works to eliminate those skinjackers who could help Mary fulfill her twisted dream of destroying the living world before it is too late for everyone. Nick Podehl provides phenomenal narration for Neal Shusterman's imaginative and satisfying conclusion (2011, both S & S) to the "Skinjacker Trilogy". He perfectly transitions from one character to the next, bringing each one to life and easily evoking all their emotions. This exceptionally well-done production would be a wonderful addition to middle/high school and public library collections.-Jessica Miller, New Britain Public Library, CT (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
As Shusterman established in book one, Everlost is a "world between life and death" inhabited by children and teens. They exist side-by-side with the everyday world, and in Shusterman's hands the ways in which the two worlds intersect are fascinating. The kids have been left to sort out their own society, and as book three opens, many of them are aboard a train with a very special car containing a glass coffin holding the sleeping body of the evil Mary Hightower, leader of Everlost. Tied to the front of the train as punishment by Mary's henchmen is Allie the Outcast, Mary's nemesis. Allie's friend Nick, meanwhile, has reverted almost completely to a sort of golem made of chocolate; he's lost all memory of who he is or what he believed in. An important new character is Jix, a skinjacker who chooses to take over the bodies of big cats instead of humans, to the point of becoming catlike himself. This isn't a book to read on its own, but Shusterman's richly complex world-building will intrigue initiates enough to go back and start with what they've missed. Each of the main characters ends up exactly as he or she should, making Everfound a satisfying conclusion to the series. susan dove lempke (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Shusterman ends his provocative trilogy with a rock-solid adventure that manages to examine deep questions of faith and morality.At the end ofEverwild(2009), Nick the Chocolate Ogre had dissolved into a mass of chocolate pudding, Mary Hightower was asleep in a glass coffin waiting to be reborn, Allie the Outcast was strapped to the front of arunaway train and Mikey McGill (formerly the monstrous McGill) was searching for a way to rescue her. The adventures continue, with Mexican Afterlight Jix joining the cast of characters as a furjacker, slipping into the bodies of giant cats as he spies on Mary's army for the Mayan King. The rules of Everlost are unique, catering to the children who go there upon death and wait until they are ready to go into the light. But even those rules can be overset with the introduction of Clarence, the scar wraith, whose touch can extinguish anyone out of existenceforever.Alliances form and melt as characters decide between their own self-interest and what is right; the shifting third-person perspective gives readers glimpses into everybody's souls.Rich in detail, with exceptional characterization and shot through with unexpected (and very necessary) humor, this is an engrossing and thoroughly satisfying ending to a unique saga of life after death.(Science fiction. 12 up)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
