A unique concept! It hooked me early, though it was a bit too grim for bedtime reading, so I switched from kindle to audio (since I generally listen to audio during the day). Allie and Nick are teenagers in two separate cars, and suffer a fatal head-on collision. When they both wake up, it takes them a bit to realize that they’re not quite alive anymore… but they’re not quite dead either. Instead, they’re in a place they learn is called Everlost, where the spirits particularly of children end up trapped in the in-between.

I say the story is grim, because the premise undoubtedly is… but because the protagonists are kids, as are all the characters, it really reads like a dark middle-grade story, so there are lots of lighthearted moments too. The kids meet Leaf (not his real name—because he no longer remembers his real name, as he’s been in Everlost too long), and together they manage to escape a group of bullies by threatening them with the McGill—a monster that may or may not exist, but they make use of the fear of it well. Meanwhile, they find themselves in a domain presided over by the beautiful and benevolent teenage Molly, who wrote volumes upon volumes in her time in Everlost about how things work there, and whom the other kids look to as a kind of mother hen, as she sort of adopts all the strays and brings them into her domain. Nick falls for her, but Allie and she clash, because Allie feels like there’s something off about her. She also realizes that the kids in Molly’s domain do the same thing on a loop, endlessly—very much like the stories of ghosts describe “residual hauntings”—and they forget over time who they were or even what they looked like.

As Allie attempts to understand the true nature of Everlost, she drags Nick on an adventure with her, where they encounter the true McGill and many other monsters besides… and they learn what it takes for the children to “move on” to the other side.

This is a trilogy apparently, though I didn’t realize that until I’d finished it. The book doesn’t end on a cliffhanger though, and while I liked it, I don’t think I’ll continue reading on in the series.

My rating: ***1/2

Language: none

Violence: none

Sexual content: none

Political content: none

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