Ever [Paperback]

Olus is the Akkan god of the winds - but at just seventeen years old, much younger than all the other gods and goddesses, he doesn't fit in and often feels lonely. So he decides to spend some time among the mortals of the world. He travels to the nearby land of Hyte, and becomes particularly fascinated by a mortal girl named Kezi and her family.

Fifteen-year-old Kezi lives a comfortable and carefree life. She is a gifted weaver of rugs, and she loves to dance. But her carefree life is shattered in one terrible moment. Her mother becomes deathly ill, and desperate to save his wife, her father makes a terrible oath to make a sacrifice to the Admat, the all-powerful god of Hyte, if his wife is spared. And in order to protect her aunt, who saved Kezi's life as a child, Kezi fufills the oath and will become the sacrifice. Now, Kezi has just thirty days to find a way to save her life. Olus, who has fallen in love with Kezi, believes he can save her by helping her become immortal, and to that end the young couple sets off on a series of quests that will test their courage and their love for each other.

Ever was another wonderful fantasy adventure by Gail Carson Levine, told in the alternating voices of Kezi and Olus, giving us a glimpse into both their minds. As with her other books, she has created an exotic and believable world filled with wonderful characters. I highly recommend this book to fans of the author's other novels, as well as to young teens who enjoy romantic fantasy novels.

I guess I'd do 2 and a half stars if I could. I am usually a big Gail Carson Levine fan. I ADORED Ella Enchanted and both of the main characters in that whom made me giggle out loud. I can read that one a million times over and never get bored with it. The two Princesses of Banmarre is good. And Fairest was pretty good though not quite up to par with the other two. That said, I'm a bit dissapointed in Ever. Although I know it was working a completely different time than she usually writes about . . . it felt a little stilted. There were some good moments, but the romance was rushed and didn't have much build up which caused the ending to fall a little flat in my mind. I'm sad because I was very excited this book was coming out. It still has a decent story, but I didn't feel as much for the two main characters after a certain point. Most of my emotion was used up in the early paragraphs. I'd recomend her other books well before I would recomend this one. I've read worse books, but . . . this one left me feeling a little gipped.

"Ever" by Gail Carson Levine. Review by a 15 year old girl.

Introduction: The gods in this story have powers over specific elements of nature. A young god named Olus rules over the wind, and he is very lonely because he is so much younger than all the other gods. Because of his youth he relates better to mortals, and falls in love with a mortal girl from another land named Kezi. In Kezi's land people believe in one all powerful god named Admat, and her father foolishly makes an oath to their god which results in him agreeing to sacrifice his daughter Kezi. Olus must find a way to save Kezi from being sacrificed, but even if he succeeds Kezi will live a mere human lifespan while he will live thousands of years. What can they do to be happy?

My recommended age to read: I think 9 years old is way too young; I'd recommended the child to be at least 11 or 12. They should have an understanding of reality, and be old enough to read about other religions with confidence. (This book portrayed the monotheistic god (which seems to be modeled after the old testament God) as cruel, impersonal, unforgiving, not really all powerful, and non existent.)

Things I liked: During the later part of the book I was able to escape reality and enter the world of the book, and I also liked Kezi's challenge and the way she handled it.

Things I disliked: I prefer past tense, rather than the first-person present tense used in this book. I really didn't like the beginning; I found the writing style very confusing and difficult to get used to. If it had been a complicated story I would have been lost. Luckily (or unluckily) the story is somewhat shallow; most of all the love story. They had such strong love for each other (never fighting a single time), but it had no basis! It just didn't seem realistic at all to me! Why do they never get irritated by each other? It's like a crush, except unlike real life it's idealized to be just what you daydream about. Perhaps that was the problem. Although the characters are likable, the two main characters don't really have any flaws. Sure they have fears and doubts, but they remain almost perfect throughout their dificulties. During the first half of the story I couldn't get into the book at all, I just popping back to reality saying "God being everywhere (omnipresent) isn't ridiculous." or "how can you be kissing already!?" or "why do you love someone that much who you just met?".

Conclusion: At first I thought it would be a waste of my time, but later on things got better. I was surprised how much spiritual stuff was in this book, and it made me want to find out Mrs. Levine's beliefs, either religious or secular. I think if I could find information on her opinions about life, maybe I could understand what her purpose was in writing. I'm inexperienced, but my impression was that she believes "god" is something humans have to attain by finding it within themselves.

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