UnWholly by Neal Shusterman

Cover via Goodreads.

Rating: 4/5 stars.

The sequel to Neal Shusterman’s thrilling Unwind, UnWholly follows Connor, Risa, and Lev as they take on new enemies and events. They live in a world in which teenagers are able to be literally taken apart once they reach the age of thirteen (the process is called “unwinding”), and their separated body parts are sold to others. After the trio escaped Happy Jack Harvest Camp, unwinding has garnered some negative media attention, but not enough to do anything except lower the safety age from 18 to 17. Connor and Risa struggle to stay together and afloat while Connor takes charge of the Graveyard, a safe haven for AWOL unwinds. Lev leaves the spotlight and after some unfortunate occurrences strikes out on his own. And there are some newcomers to the game – Starkey, Miracolina, and Cam – who change things up for our three original protagonists. All six will encounter danger and will be forced to fight for what they believe in, if they can even figure out what they believe in at all.

Everfound by Neal Shusterman

Cover via Goodreads.

Rating: 5/5 stars.

Everfound is one of those books you really want to write a fantastic review for. The kind of book which, after you’ve turned the last page and finished digesting the final words, you want to tell everyone about. The kind that you find yourself grasping for straws to explain, stumbling over nothing but your lack of adequate vocabulary to express its perfection.

Or maybe I’m just tongue-tied. That’s not the point, though.

I won’t bother with explaining the story – it’s just too complicated and intricate and nuanced, especially because this is the third and final installment of the Skinjacker trilogy. If you’re looking for the first book in the series (which I hope you are, at least by the end of this review) you can find it here. Now, back to Everfound.

Neal Shusterman is the king of young-adult science-fiction and fantasy. Every book I’ve read by him, be it the Skinjacker trilogy, Unwind, or Bruiser, possessed an original and well-executed plot. He outdid himself with Everfound. Not only did he flesh out the already wonderful world of Everlost further than I thought possible, but he took the events happening in the story and enmeshed them with the setting, creating a colossal battle to save the world.

Another reason why I adore Shusterman’s books is because of the characters. They’re so layered and complex – like real people, I guess. There’s no archetypical bad guy craving for pure power to dominate the world, but a girl named Mary, who wishes to protect her children in Everlost, even if it means destroying the living world and all of its inhabitants. There’s no “Peggy Sue” protagonist who is never tempted by her own desires, but a skinjacker named Allie, whose passion for performing acts of kindness is fuddled by what she truly wants.

There are so many more characters worth mentioning. I even feel bad calling them side characters, because each one contributes something essential to the story. Every single teenager or child Shusterman brings into the world of Everlost serves a purpose, and most experience some form of emotional growth or development.

To sum it up: if you’ve already read the first two books in the Skinjacker trilogy, then I probably don’t need to tell you to read this one. If you haven’t read Everlost, you should, because it’s a great introduction to a mind-blowing series. Who knows, maybe you’ll end up like me – finishing up Everfound, and at an utter loss of speech.