Unfortunately I no longer have access to this earc due to changing my kindle. But if I get to it in future, I'll come back and review.

This is the final book of the Wizards of Once series and therefore the conclusion to Xar and Wish's thrilling adventures. I adored the entire series and it is one I recommend to adults and children alike.

(Short review as it is way past publication date. I therefore read it a long time ago but was unable to post a full review at the time due to difficult personal circumstances.)

I have loved reading this series to my own children and they are a popular borrow from my class library. Never and Forever is a satisfying end to the tetralogy. Cressida Cowell's work building is immense and you genuinely care for all the characters, major and minor. She skillfully weaves the character arcs together in this final novel as Car and Wish try to defeat the evil of the King Witch.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this.
I read this with my youngest who is a big fan of the series. Another hit!
As we read I was struck by the sense of things drawing to an end. My son loved the adventures encountered by the characters and we were both rather shocked by the way things were resolved.

This was an incredibly satisfying conclusion to what has been a really fun series. I thought that Cressida Cowell did a fantastic job at tying up all of the threads that were woven throughout the series, with great callbacks throughout to the previous installments. The character arcs, while fairly predictable, were nonetheless rewarding and I particularly enjoyed the 'sting' at the conclusion to the book. I was glad to see the return of Perdita and Hoola and overall, I thought this was a thoroughly enjoyable finale.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Fantastic finale to a wonderful book series. I romped through it while never wanting it to end. Brilliant storytelling

I have read all of the wizards of once books and therefore sad that this wonderful series was coming to an end and I really really did not want this to happen. I have fallen in love with Xar and Wish as main characters who were meant to be on opposing sides and oh boy the adventures they had were just amazing. I loved Cressida Cowell's writing and illustrations she kept dropping breadcrumbs when put together leads the reader to find out an awful lot of back story. We also find out who the narrator was and I got it completely and utterly wrong I thought it was someone else. This last book Cressida nicely wrapped everything up in a present with a bow on top there was nothing she missed out and that takes some talent considering this was a Tetralogy. I do intend to revisit the book and listen to the audiobook with the wonderful David Tennant when it is finally released. I want to thank Netgalley and the Publishers Hatchette for letting me review this wonderful book. There is no doubt in my mind it had to be another 5 star read

I am so sad that this series is over, it's been one of my favourite series and this was such an amaing conclusion.

We follow two main characters within this series, Xar and Wish. Xar is a young boy of 12 who is a wizard without his magic and like a fool he catches a witch (the most fearsome creature in all of the wildwoods) and gives himself a witchstain which is slowly trying to control him. Wish is a young girl of 12 and she seems to be a normal warrior girl, except for the fact that she has a secret which is that she has the magic that works on iron and the King Witch is hunting her to take the magic.

It's been so lovely watching these characters grow into the people the are at the end of this book. Cowell's character building is unrivalled, much like her story-telling. I can't wait to see what she does next.

I read this with my 8 year old granddaughter. She is a huge How to train your dragons fan so was excited to read this story by Cressing Cowell.
We loved the adventures, the characters and the setting for the story and look forward to reading the others in this series - and then to reading this one again in the correct order.

Absolutely brilliant. A fantastic finish to an already mind-blowing series of books. Read this with my daughter and we were both sad it had come to an end but really satisfied with the ending.

As a huge Wizards of Once fan, I had been waiting for this book for so long and was so excited to read it. I adore the characters, both major and minor, (Xar, Squeezjoos and the Enchanted Spoon being personal favourites) and love the humour that runs through each book.
I thoroughly enjoyed this conclusion to the series, although I don't think it was my favourite book of the four; I would have loved it to be a little longer but overall it was a satisfying ending.
I have ordered the physical copy as Cressida Cowell's illustrations are always brilliant and I will definitely listen to the final audiobook if it has David Tenant's exceptional narration once again.

This is the absolutely perfect ending of this series. While I hate that it is over, for now, Wish, Xar and Bodkin certainly deserve it after that adventure. And of course, all the sprites, snow cats, bears, giants, wolves and every other wonderful creature in this wonderful universe. My heart was racing throughout and it was very difficult to put this down whenever real life interfered. Cressida Cowell, wonderful!

Recommended to fantasy-lovers, adventurers and animal-lovers. Start with the first- you're in for one epic ride!

Once again, I deferred to my grandson, who has now read the complete set of this great Cressida Cowell series. He writes ‘The fourth book in this excellent series picks up exactly were the last one left off. The series is about two main characters, a boy called Xar and a girl named Wish (who is able to use magic). In this fourth instalment, the two characters set off together to find a spell to end all witches in the world. Sadly, the spell does not work as they had hoped, but with the help of friends they manage to banish the King Witch to the underworld. The ending was a brilliant finish - I was just sad to think that it felt like it might be the end of the series?’ If - as in this case - a book is read in short order by a reader who doesn’t want to put it down I guess that tells you all you need to know.

Once, there was a merry band of heroes of humans & creatures that went on an epic quest to triumph over the witches and their warring families. But the end is creeping near and time is not on their side. They must complete the last, difficult remaining part of their quest or everyone and everything is doomed. Danger & death looms ever closer as does the faint possibility of the wizards & warriors becoming allies. But destiny likes to make things hard for our intrepid adventurers!

This series just fills me full of utter joy though I will confess I was in tears at an event that I had truly hoped we would’ve been spared! The ending was very clever and made me smile so much. The humour is always a big part of my enjoyment of Cowell’s works and this instalment didn’t let me down. I took the characters to my heart and I’m going to miss them.

I was elated at being selected for a review copy as I been not so patiently waiting on the climax being published. The only drawback with receiving the proof is that it was missing the marvellously madcap illustrations but this just means I’ll be reading a print copy as soon as I can, so I can revisit the finale with gusto. And of course, a third time when I can listen to the audiobook version which I hope will be again read by the sublime David Tennant. I can’t read the books now without hearing his amazing voices for the incredible characters.

The target audience and alleged grown-ups (like myself) will adore this epic conclusion. It’s phenomenal!

The Wizards of Once: Never and Forever is the classic tale of good versus evil, with a whole load of action, adventure, emotion and plot-twists thrown in for good measure!

This is the final book in the series, following Wish, Xar and their unique band of followers as they attempt to defeat the Kingwitch and free the Wildwoods from the tyranny of the witches forever.

It is packed full of unexpected twists, humour, suspense and, as expected from the final book in the series, big reveals. While I enjoyed it and found it a worthy conclusion, I think it struggles as a stand-alone book. It is very much the conclusion of the series and lacks the finesse and plot-development of some of the earlier books. That said, I think it will be thoroughly enjoyed by fans of The Wizards of Once.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book.

I have completely loved the Wizards of Once series. I had high hopes for the finale and it was even better than I could have imagined.
The fourth and final book concentrates on Wish, Xar and Bodkin, who you’ll have met in books 1 to 3, finding the last ingredient of the spell and using it to try and defeat the witches once and for all. But when things go dangerously wrong, they must find another way to survive.
It was a satisfying end, surprisingly funny, and you could never have guessed how the story would finish.
I would recommend it for magic lovers.

(Reviewed by Alma, 9)

Well. This was....I'm not sure what this was. Both the thrilling conclusion to a series I've largely enjoyed so far but also quite a let down.

As the fourth and final instalment of Cressida Cowell's highly imaginative series The Wizards of Once, this title Never and Forever is full of the usual plot twists, humour and high energy story telling we've come to expect. The first issue I had with it is that there is endless rehashing of the first three books. To be fair, there are a number of characters to keep track of- wizard boy Xar, warrior- but yet magic- Wish, ambivalent bodyguard Bodkin and a seemingly innumerable entourage of sprites, fairies, talking birds, giants, enemies, the Big Bad Kingwitch, a warrior queen and a wizard king. It becomes a little exhausting trying to keep track of it all and to that end, the recaps serve their purpose. However this should absolutely not be treated as a standalone book and anyone picking up without having read the first three really will not get any of it, regardless of how much rehearsal of what went before. So I found the on-going reminders tiresome.

Secondly, the persistent USE OF CAPS started getting on my nerves. Were there so many caps is the previous titles? I felt like the author was CONSTANTLY SHOUTING to get a point across or the characters were SHOUTING AT EACH OTHER and it just grated, especially when it replaced actual meaningful dialogue. I also felt like there was less character development than I had seen in the previous books and it was replaced by what seemed like a somewhat uneven and frenzied dash to the finish. The constant chaos and rushing plot and sly narrative winks interspersed with the SHOUTING felt a bit thrown together and I found myself losing interest at a few points.

As far as the good points, Cowell writes some deliciously scary villains and there were some genuine moments of suspense. Despite having that cast of thousands I mentioned earlier, some of the minor players are so endearing and fun- I think we all need an enchanted spoon in our lives. And while the plot did not feel as polished as the previous book, there was quite a bit to wrap up and so as we hurtled toward the ending, it was satisfying to have the exciting conclusion to the long quest.

The ending though- without giving anything away, I absolutely hated the very ending. HATED, to use a shouty cap. It made no sense and it felt like something that threw all the previous world building, all the beautifully crafted magical system, all the highly original storytelling right off a cliff. It made no sense to me and so I may just pretend the true conclusion came before, say, the last 15 pages of the book. It simply felt like sloppy writing rather than part of the overall design and after enjoying so much clever plotting and character development up until now, it was a huge disappointment.

Having said all that, I anticipate reading this aloud to my children as I have done with all the previous titles and it may improve in that format. I also feel that the majority of younger readers will be thrilled with final volume of the series as a whole and it's bound to be a solid hit.

Thanks to NetGalley UK and to Hodder Children's Books for providing an ARC of this title in return for a honest review.

Wish, Xar and Bodkin lead the reader through the fourth and final instalment of their magical and crazy quest. It is hard to say much because I do not want to accidentally spoil the amazing ending!

If you have enjoyed the other three books and have come to love Wish then you will enjoy the emotional roller coaster of this tale. If you have not read them I would strongly suggest going to book 1 first.

Everything about the book paints a magical picture and invigorates the imagination. Readers young and old will enjoy this legend of a quest.

Here we have it, the final book in the Wizards of Once series! Where we find where Xar's, Wish's and Bodkin's story ends! And what an adventure it was!!

As you can tell by all the exclamation points, I absolutely loved this series and this last book 'Never and Forever'.

I can't say much to the plot, not wanting to give any spoilers away but the story was full of action from the get go, emotions running high as there is a lot at stake from their previous adventures in the other three books.
The main three characters of the book as always are magnificent to read and to see their growth in the final chapters was great. Cressida's books are always full of great messages behind the magic and swords, that are true to real life.

Also the reveal of the narrator and the names they choose in the end! Amazing, was not expecting it but loved it nonetheless. <spoiler> I immediately looked up Arthurian Legends as I know very little but I'm super intrigued on why Cressida thought to end the books with this reveal! </spoiler>

I'm definitely going to be getting this book when it comes out, as the eArc was missing the wonderful illustrations that make the books just a beautiful to look at as well as read! Also the audio book of it, as there is nothing like David Tennant narrating the story and doing the voices of squeezjoos and others!

Thank you to Hachette's Childrens Books and Netgalley for an early eArc of the book!

I’ve been enjoying the Wizards of Once series throughout, so I was very pleased to receive a copy of this final book for review (thank you to NetGalley and the publisher). If you’ve also been enjoying the series so far, you won’t be disappointed by this final instalment.

This story has all the usual crazy adventures we’ve come to expect from Wish, Xar and Bodkin. The magic and narrow escapes, the humour and ridiculousness. It also (thankfully) has happy endings pretty much all round. And hints at the future adventures of our unlikely heroes.

The advance review copy did not yet have all the illustrations, however, those that were there show that they will be as brilliant and expressive as those in the previous three volumes.

Treat yourself to the final chapter of this crazy adventure, and be whisked away to a world of fun creatures and lively magic. You won’t regret it. If you haven’t read the previous three books, I strongly recommend starting at the beginning!

I was given a free copy of this book, my opinions are my own.