Everfound by Neal Shusterman

It could be the end of the world as they know it. Even though Mary Hightower has yet to be awakened from her glass coffin, her accomplices are doing their best to serve her and her grand plans—bringing the entire world into Everlost. And so Mary’s loyal followers reap new souls by preventing recently deceased children from getting where they were going and ultimately “saving” them. At least, that’s how Mary sees it. But not everyone agrees with her, and it soon becomes apparent that Mary’s crew will have more than just familiar enemies to deal with. Can the dissenters put aside their differences to fight against Mary, or will she be successful in orchestrating her vision of a worldwide Armageddon?

I have to say that I quite enjoyed Everlost and Everwild, but I was completely blown away by Everfound. This conclusion to Shusterman’s spectacular Skinjacker trilogy was its longest and most memorable installment by far. There is so much danger and drama already in the world of Everlost, as detailed in the first two books of the trilogy, but Shusterman introduces many new and exciting complications. There are whole hosts of new Afterlights to be reckoned with, new vortexes and objects with formidable powers, and new ties between Everlost and the real world. The sheer amount of imagination evident in Shusterman’s writing simply astounds me; I doubt many other writers could incorporate bodily possession of animals, physically living within two worlds, and a prophetic jukebox into a story as skillfully and realistically as Shusterman does in Everfound. What’s even more impressive is how he does this while maintaining completely believable if eccentric characters and situations. This trilogy was such a pleasure to read that I am truly sad that it is coming to a close. It’s an epic story of life, love, and death that will keep readers on the edge of their seats until the very satisfying end.

I most definitely recommend the Skinjacker trilogy to any fans of fantasy and especially to readers who enjoyed reading Jo-Jo and the Fiendish Lot by Andrew Auseon and the Escape from Furnace series by Alexander Gordon Smith.

Rating: 4.75

Review copy from Simon & Schuster Galley Grab