An excellent sequel. I'm not very good with books that contain a lot of travelling and this one was really pushing my limits, however I really enjoyed it. There was a lot of blending of past and present as Jules remembered her past lives. I'm really glad the ending went how it did. I didn't want it to be all about the love story. I was completely immersed in the story and loved how the story of the snake and the fox entwined with the present day. The ending was a little bit open ended too, I wonder if the author will come back to this world one day?

2.5 stars

- Contains spoilers for Everless (Book 1) -

After discovering the shocking truth about herself and her powers, Jules must evade the evil Sorceress and find a way to stop her once and for all.
Is there any truth to the rumour of a weapon able to kill the Sorceress?
Will the returning memories of Jules' past lives provide any clues?

It isn't often that I enjoy a sequel more than the first book in a series, and I definitely didn't enjoy Evermore as much as Everless.
I liked Jules as a character. She had been through a lot and being on the run would be so stressful.
The romance wasn't one of my favourites that I've ever read, but I didn't dislike it.
The concept of blood-iron coins is one of my favourite things about the duology.
I enjoyed finding out Jules' past lives and her origins as the Alchemist, but it did become a bit repetitive after a while. The memories took up a lot of the plot and I feel like a lot more could have happened in-between them, and that Evermore didn't quite reach its potential.
The writing was easy to follow most of the time, but some of the sentences could have done with being reworked so that they flowed easier - however, these might have been changed for the finished, published book. There were also a couple of times where I missed something and had to go back.
Unfortunately, Evermore was a bit of a disappointing read for me, but I would be interested in returning to the world of Sempera.

Overall this was a mostly enjoyable, but slightly disappointing read.

Evermore was incredible, and in my humble opinion so much better than Everless. Now that everything is in the open and we know what Jules is up against. And to find out more about the Alchemist and the Sorceress and their timeless battle.Evermore focuses on stopping the Sorceress. Jules spends the majority of the book travelling around the country and having visions, while she tries to find the weapon that will destroy the Sorceress. Because she needs answers and because she has no memory, she struggles to find what she is after.Luckily there is Liam. He studied all things Alchemist, so he's a good place to start. And he knows so much more than the Alchemist! However, he does not always agree with Jules. And there is a battle of minds and wills as Jules struggles to decide her fate. Does she stay and fight Cara or does she flee, and hopefully lead a normal life?I've seen on some reviews that people were annoyed that Jules didn't remember that she is the Alchemist. But she has lived may lives, and she is literally reborn again and again. So of cause she is not going to remember.This is gorgeously descriptive, that feels like a game of cat and mouse as the end slowly but surely comes in sight. This was a slower pace than the previous book but manages to be just as captivating and equally compelling.

I was very happy to be returning to the world of Everless to find out what happened next to Jules so I jumped straight in.  I really enjoyed the first book and thought that there was a lot of promise for this series so wanted to see how the characters and world would develop.
In Evermore, we find out more about Jules’ background, as well as the history of the rivalry between the Alchemist and the Sorceress.
Despite finding the book a very easy read – I finished it in just over a day – I found myself a bit disappointed with this sequel.  I felt like I spent most of the book waiting for something to happen that never really came.  I appreciate that the author couldn’t reveal everything at once, however, the pacing did feel very slow without a lot of plot points to keep me interested.  I didn’t feel like anything really developed or grew from the first book.  Jules’ character didn’t really seem to change thoroughout Evermore, despite the revelations she discovered about her history.  There wasn’t really a lot of development for other characters either, and a lot of them were dropped into the story in such a way that it just felt like they were there to further the plot, rather than actually develop themselves.
I also wasn’t very happy with the ending.  I think that because I didn’t feel any tension had built up in the rest of the book, so when it came to the final showdown, I didn’t feel a sense of resolution.
The thing that I found most disappointing was that I felt that the world Sara Holland had worked so hard to create in Everless kind of lost its identity.  There was less mention of the time as currency that featured so heavily in the first book, and there were other things that meant the world began to feel a bit like a generic fantasy world which was a shame.  I would have loved to see more detail about the world that had been created.
In all, I did think there were enjoyable aspects to this book, I liked finding out more about the Alchemist and the Sorceress and the story behind them, however, in general this sequel didn’t live up to its predecessor.

Hmm. I really wanted to like this one. The first book was brilliant and I'm still in love with the idea of people being able to trade away years of their lives. However, this sequel just didn't live up to the promise of the first book. Jules spends a lot of this book stressing about being unable to remember her past and hiding in different locations. When the plot moved forward, it went at breakneck speed but there were too many intervals where not a lot happened. It didn't help that I never really could invest much in Liam and Jules' romance.

[Spoilers] Also given how much of the book was about Jules' friendship with Caro and love for her, I'm sad that there was no textual romance. It felt like a natural choice, especially given the early stories we hear about the Alchemist and the Sorceress and all the talk of hearts.[Spoilers]

Still, for those who enjoyed the first book, it wraps up a decent number of loose ends to be a somewhat satisfying conclusion to the duology.

I loved “Everless” and was so happy to return to this world for the end of the tale of the Sorceress and the Alchemist.

One final battle, in time, Jules must use her power to defeat Caro once and for all. But nothing is that easy when love and friendship is involved..

The world building is magically inventive and Sara Holland moves her characters through it like chess pieces, slowly but surely leading these two towards an emotional confrontation. Is this checkmate though?

This two book series is wonderfully inventive, absolutely absorbing and beautifully written. Gorgeous descriptive sense and a piece of classic storytelling means that it comes highly recommended from me.

I enjoyed this book and felt that the ending was clever. It was interesting to see the back stories of Jules and Caro - how their lives intwined and then came apart and why.

I enjoyed Jules’ developing relationship with Liam and her desire to protect him. Her unpicking of her past is ultimately her means of doing so.

A good read - perhaps not as good as Everless but worth putting on my library shelves.

Gripping, atmospheric fantasy with a compelling heroine & a tense, slow-burning romance at its core. Plot threads are satisfyingly tied up...fans of the first will not be disappointed!

Thanks to Netgalley and Hachette Children’s Group for giving me this book to review.

Evermore is the sequel to Everless, and while it is fast paced and I wanted to know what happening next, I was disappointed with it. I was not a fan of the romance as it developed way too fast and I ended up rolling my eyes at most of it as it takes up a lot of the story and Jules’s thoughts. I felt the world building was not good as it seemed like everywhere they needed to go was only a couple of hours horse ride away and everything seemed convenient and shallow as they would go from one point to another with no depth or sense of discovery.

Jules is way too impulsive and puts herself in danger almost constantly but she is desperate to find the truth and discover a way to stop Caro. Liam is a good character who is intelligent and has a thirst for knowledge. However, all of the characters, both new and old, felt flat and I didn’t care much about them.

I was underwhelmed by this book but I am hopeful that I will enjoy what Holland writes next. I would recommend Evermore only to those who loved the first book Everless.

Thanks to NetGalley for letting me have a sneaky peek of this prior to publication.
I was really looking forward to finding out what happened to Jules after Everless, and there are some interesting developments. We learn a lot more of Jules’ past, and see a little more of the background to the world in which these characters live.
From the start of the novel we are in a rush to work out whether the Alchemist or the Sorceress will come out on top. Jules has to rely an awful lot on luck/hoping she’s made a good call on who to trust, and there’s still a feeling of more to come.
Much as I’d loved book one this didn’t grip me in quite the same way. For so much of the novel Jules is reliant on others, and her search to learn about herself is - of necessity - slow. This led to moments of me wanting to focus on other characters that might have had a little more action.
There were attempts to build up the world further, but the dropping in of other characters made it feel choppy and difficult to follow on occasion. The ending didn’t quite work for me...can’t put my finger on exactly why, but the frustration it brought about can be likened to the feeling of an itch that you can’t quite reach.

I really wish I could say I enjoyed this as much as Everless. The ending is the strongest part of the book - nicely wrapped-up but with the lingering suggestion that there is more to the story - and yet even that couldn't save it for me.

One reviewer pointed out that this book loses the somewhat sci-fi feel of the first book and moves more towards traditional fantasy. This is true. Those who felt so-so about Everless could enjoy this more, as it does indeed read more like regular YA fantasy. I personally enjoyed this less, though. I’ve read countless fantasy books where a young woman must stop the evil tyrant, whilst accompanied by sexy dude; I didn't need another one.

In this sequel, the use of time as currency did not play much of a role in the story. I thought this was a shame, as it was the most interesting aspect of Everless for me. Holland explored how being able to buy and sell time from your life would affect people, and society at large, which I thought was fascinating. Unlike some other readers, I never saw much similarity between the first book and the movie "In Time", aside from a vaguely-similar premise.

This book turns its focus to stopping the Sorceress. Most of Evermore consists of Jules travelling around and having visions, all so that she can locate a weapon that is said to be able to kill the Sorceress. It was a struggle to get through at times. The visions grew repetitive, as did the constant brushing up against Liam and feeling chills/weird feelings that she pretends to ignore.

Note to YA fantasy heroines: You're not ignoring it if you keep bringing it up. That's not what ignoring means.

I was just really disappointed that the plot veered off, moving the focus off of the concept of a world where time is currency, and more towards the common fantasy aspects of good vs evil and destiny. An unusual - if, admittedly, not original - idea became just another clone for the pile. I even got Snow White vibes with the use of an evil sorceress, a huntsman, and stealing hearts.

I could be convinced to return to the world of this series, but I'd like to see the author go back to what made Everless stand out.