All Allie wanted to do was get her group project done and
figure out a way to get out of the friend zone with her best
friend, Winston. That all changes when she opens an old
fairy tale book and her and her group are sucked into that
world. Now, they are in Nerissette, and a cat is telling
Allie she is the queen. Allie has to try to figure out how
to rule a country amidst evil plots and work out how to get
her and her friends back home.
As a complete sucker for fairy tales old and new, EVERLAST
by Andria Buchanan hits the nail on the head for me for
awesome fairy tales. Buchanan has a special way of making
the story flow in an enchanting and magical way that makes
it hard to put down. I love especially the main character,
Allie. She is tough and strong and has her own way of
standing up for herself. Seeing her first enter Nerissette
and slowly grow to care for it is beautiful to read. The
potential her character has to mature is great and Buchanan
uses it very well. Her relationship with Winston is dynamic
and exciting, and I highly enjoy their sweet, friend-based
romance.
The conflict in EVERLAST is deep and thrilling. The villain,
the Fate Maker, is mysterious, and I wanted to high five
every character that stands up to him. He provides an
excellent medium to showcase Allie's growth, and the hints
about his connection to her past keep you reading late into
the night. The effect he has as a villain on the whole
kingdom brings about even more of a conflict within Allie,
and I love the surprising depth in that. It works well to
make the story realistic and relatable even in a story with
lots of fantasy.
While it may be a stretch to say I love EVERLAST, because
some parts of it are predictable and the dialogue is a touch
dry in parts, I still very, very strongly like it. I will
definitely be reading the second book in the series, and I
highly anticipate what will happen next to the characters I
have come to enjoy so much.
Allie Munroe has only ever wanted to belong, maybe even be well liked. But even though she’s nice and smart and has a couple of friends, she’s still pretty much the invisible girl at school. So when the chance to work with her friends and some of the popular kids on an English project comes up, Allie jumps at the chance to be noticed. And her plan would have worked out just fine…if they hadn’t been sucked into a magical realm through a dusty old book of fairy tales in the middle of the library. Now, Allie and her classmates are stuck in Nerissette, a world where karma rules and your social status is determined by what you deserve. Which makes a misfit like Allie the Crown Princess, and her archrival the scullery maid. And the only way out is for Allie to rally and lead the people of Nerissette against the evil forces that threaten their very existence.