Everless Review

Rating: 5/5

By: Sara Holland 

Source: Waterstones

In the land of Sempera, the rich control everything - even time. Ever since the age of alchemy and sorcery, hours, days and years have been extracted from blood and bound to iron coins. The rich live for centuries; the poor bleed themselves dry.

Jules and her father are behind on their rent and low on hours. To stop him from draining himself to clear their debts, Jules takes a job at Everless, the grand estate of the cruel Gerling family.

There, Jules encounters danger and temptation in the guise of the Gerling heir, Roan, who is soon to be married. But the web of secrets at Everless stretches beyond her desire, and the truths Jules must uncover will change her life for ever ... and possibly the future of time itself. 

The story follows Jules in her desperate attempt to survive, returning to her childhood home despite her father begging her not to. Dangers wait at Everless for Jules, but so does the money she needs to keep herself and her father in their home. It's a risk she's willing to take, and it's where the excitement begins. 

Lets get down to the good stuff right away. 

My favourite character was Liam. I'm pretty much always drawn to the dark, brooding characters and this was no difference. There are some really great moments between Liam and Jules, a lot of tension and back and forth. There was also some longing looks shared between Jules and Liam's younger brother Roan, the one who is getting married. I enjoyed the flirtation because it seemed even more scandalous in a castle setting, give me all the drama. 

One of the highlights of the book for me was the Hen/Bachelorette Party. Yes, this is a thing that happens. Jules, the Queen's ward, Ina and her handmaiden get dolled up, pre drink and head out to a bar in the nicer side of town to drink wine and gossip before Ina is to be married. This was such a surreal moment in a fantasy novel, and I loved it. 

Everless is all fun and games though. It's actually a very emotional story, set in a less than perfect world. People bleed their time, their literal life force, to forge coins to pay for food, rent, living in general. Four months to cover two months rent, meaning if you can't earn the Blood Iron, you're going to have lose four months of your life to pay the bills. Parents have to bleed to feed their children, or risk bleeding their children to keep a roof over everyones head. When your time runs out, your heart stops. 

I thought this was a really interesting concept for a book and I was completely captivated by it. If you follow me on Twitter you know how much I was trying to predict the outcome of a book, something I only do when I'm really into a story. 

At times the world building felt a little heavy, there was a lot of tough reading at the start of the book to set the scene, but once you power through that the rest of the description is more subtle and the pacing of the book is on point.  recommend this book

I to fans of YA and fantasy. This is a dark read at times but the story itself is easy to get through, other than advising discretion if you don't like blood/death then I'd say for you to just go for it. I've read so much contemporary lately that I wasn't sure how I'd get on with this, and I loved it. 

Get yourself a copy from Book Depository here! 

Thanks for reading!