By: Gail Carson Levine Publisher: HarperCollins Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Label: HarperCollins Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 256 Publication Date: May 01, 2008 Reading Level: Ages 9-12 Release Date: May 06, 2008
Falling in love is never easy, but falling in love with an immortal god while your days on earth are numbered is almost more than a young girl can bear.
Newbery Honor author Gail Carson Levine has created a stunning new world of flawed gods, unbreakable vows, and ancient omens in this spellbinding story of Kezi, a girl confronted with a terrible destiny. Attempting to thwart her fate, Kezi and her love, Olus -- the god of wind and loneliness -- embark on a series of dangerous and seemingly impossible quests.
Not a Fairytale of a Read... I must admit that I was disappointed by Ever, the latest book by Gail Carson Levine. With books such as Ella Enchanted and The Two Princesses of Bamarre on my top list for favorite young adult fiction, I always have high hopes for Levine's books. But Ever definitely diminished those hopes a little, and I am now hesitant to read some of Levine's other recent works, such as Fairest.
Not only was Levine's writing style different from her past books (though that is to be expected as an author progresses in their craft), the plot did not seem well strung together, and while the ending of the story was technically `happy,' it was not satisfactory. While happy endings are not essential to making a great book, in a story that is lauded as fairytale-esque, there is an expectation that a happy ending will be included. Unlike Ella Enchanted, it is hard to connect with the main character, (and assumed heroine), Kezi. It is actually Olus (the god of the wind and main male character) that is more reachable and endearing to readers.
Most disturbing to me while reading Ever however was the sinister undertone of Kezi being sacrificed to the god Admat after her father makes a vow to sacrifice the first person who wishes him well on his wife's (Kezi's mother) recovery from a serious illness. The concept of human sacrifice aside, it is the seemingly dark commentary on religion that made me cringe a little as I put the book down. While making young readers think about things like religion, and forcing them to ask themselves if God is real, if God is good, etc. are all very good things, Levine provides many questions but no answers.
Levine first portrays Admat as loving, then cruel, and then as nonexistent. Asking and implying such big questions but providing no solutions has the potential to leave young readers confused. As for myself, it left a bad taste in my mouth and made me wonder whether Levine was trying to create analogies or whether she just didn't bother to finish what she started in the story.
For a new generation of Levine readers, this book might be heralded as good; but for those of us who started reading Levine long ago, this book will most likely turn out to disappoint you.
Good discussion of religion If you're expecting something similar to Ella Enchanted, don't. Mrs. Levine has taken a different twist, trying a more diverse setting than before. I, as a writer, found it interesting and helpful to see a book written from two points of view in the present tense. It took a little bit of time to get used to, but didn't drag the storyline.
If you are take an interest in philosophy, greek mythology, or bible study, you should consider this book for discussion. Though most wouldn't recognize the story, she takes a little bit from the old testament, a short story in which a man sacrifices his daughter to God. It made me wonder what Mrs. Levine herself believes about the Christian God, and if he is loving or not. But it also includes some other stories, like that of Demeter and Persephone. The ending was happy, and I was glad for that because a lot of stories involving gods and goddesses include unhappy endings, like when a god falls in love with a mortal, they get separated somehow and that's why we have storms.
In agreement with other reviews, it seemed a little too fast paced, and didn't have the humor and engaging descriptions of her other books. Gail Carson Levine's best writing is in Fantasy, where her books Ella Enchanted, Fairest, The Two Princesses of Bamarre and the Princess Tales take place. Her other books, like The Wish, Dave at Night, and Ever are good and worthy of high ratings, but not her author's best potential.
Very different. This is completely different from Levine's popular Ella Enchanted. I didn't find it as entertaining -- but that's clearly not the purpose of the book.
On a side note, aren't today's book covers terrible? I wish this, and Fairest, could have gotten a nice illustration like the original Ella Enchanted. It's implied that the story sets place in a Indian-like land, and describes the heroine's dark skin, but all we get is some eyeliner-wearing white model on a photoshopped background...bleh...
Ever; it's ok. This book has a sweet and interesting story, but I wish that the author had developed it a bit more. The book was very short, and it could have been much longer. Though it has a romantic theme, it reminded me of a children's book just a little. However, it was fairly good; the story just needed a little more development.
Ever-Gail Carson Levine *SPOILERS*
Bittersweet ending as always in Levine's gorgeous books. You know, I'm really not sure why I like her books so much, they have a lot of what I hate about fantasy books (random names, little exposition). Hers are just somehow really amazing, easy to read, and the stories are really engaging. Specific to this book, let's see, I really didn't like all but the last few of Kezi's chapters. She's boring. Olus is a REALLY interesting character and is great, Kezi isn't all that interesting until the end of her trial and on. Ever was really fast-paced, I remember her other books spanning much longer time periods, that was a drawback. I didn't like that a lot was crammed in and a lot was spaced out unnecessarily. I thought for sure there'd be a plot twist, isn't that what she's known for? =P Still, pretty happy with the ending, just wish she'd got to stay with her family. I also really wish we'd gotten resolution to Admat. Is she purposely leaving it vague as a parallel to God? I still think there should be a sequel, maybe from one of Kezi's kid's POV, that would be really intersting, one of them going on a quest to find Admat, struggling with their siblings, the mortal vs. immortalness. I really liked Kezi's abilities, they were sweet. That's pretty much it, wonder what her next project is going to be!
Anything Goes Trivia
Last Kiss
Megaton Man
Trevor
