Neverlast: How to Stop Time meets Thieves' Gambit in this exes-to-lovers YA with a mortal girl born into an immortal family

by Sue H. Cunningham

How to Stop Time meets Thieves'
Gambit in this thrilling, romantic and witty supernatural YA
novel.

"All of Sue's trademark heart, wit and poignancy ... an
original take on the implications of immortality." Ravena Guron,
author of This Book Kills

Gracie was born into a secret community hidden within ordinary
society: the Perpetuals. Her family are abnormally long-lived, resilient
and fast-healing. But, it turns out, Gracie is mortal...
which means she's vulnerable.

When the truth emerges, her immortal boyfriend Arty dumps her.
Even worse, while her invincible peers embrace pulse-pounding extreme
sports, Gracie's parents prepare to wrap her in cotton wool.

Permitted 'one last adventure', Gracie heads on an international
trip with her friends - though her hard-to-read ex, Arty, ends
up joining them. And, as they reach New York, things take a dark
turn...

Arty is hiding a dangerous secret that threatens to expose the
whole Perpetual community. Could Gracie, a mortal girl, be the key
to saving them all?

An original, romantic and high-stakes speculative novel from
the author of Totally Deceased and Cloud Nine,
perfect for fans of Jennifer Lynn Barnes.
A secretive family of immortals hidden within the real world,
like the Cullens in Twilight - plus a second-chance romance,
the thrills of a life-threatening blackmail and heist plot, and
international adventure across London, Paris, Norway and New York.

Themes of time, mortality and love handled with Sue H. Cunningham's
unique blend of action, humour and poignancy.

'Delicious paranormal romance... Exciting and poignant in turns.'
Tia Fisher, author of Crossing the Line

'A thrilling, high-stakes YA heist novel... a propulsive plot
with emotional depth and reflections on mortality.' Louise Finch,
author of The Eternal Return of Clara Hart

'A fresh, fun and truly unique read.' Tess James-Mackey, author
of Better Off Dead

'A heartfelt, laugh-out-loud story about the leaps you will make
for those you love.' K. L. Kaine, author of Blood of Gods and
Girls

'Packed with peril, humour and timely reminders of how to live
life to the full ... readers are going to fall hard for this one!'
Jan Dunning, author of The Last Thing You'll Hear

351 pages, Paperback

Published August 13, 2026

Reviews

[Emma Ashley]

🧡 Blurb -
Gracie was born into a secret community hidden within ordinary society: the Perpetuals. Her family are abnormally long-lived, resilient and fast-healing. But, it turns out, Gracie is mortal... which means she's vulnerable.
When the truth emerges, her immortal boyfriend Arty dumps her. Even worse, while her invincible peers embrace pulse-pounding extreme sports, Gracie's parents prepare to wrap her in cotton wool.
Permitted 'one last adventure', Gracie heads on an international trip with her friends - though her hard-to-read ex, Arty, ends up joining them. And, as they reach New York, things take a dark turn...
Arty is hiding a dangerous secret that threatens to expose the whole Perpetual community. Could Gracie, a mortal girl, be the key to saving them all?
🖤 Review -
This was the first book that I have read by the author and I will definitely be reading more by them. From the very first page I was hooked and I kept reading until the end as I wanted to know what happened. I loved the author's writing style and there was plenty of content and twists and turns to keep me interested and guessing until the end. I loved following the characters journey through the story and the pacing was just right. I highly recommend it and I look forward to reading more by the author.
🩷 Thank you to Instabooktours, the author Sue H. Cunningham and the publisher Scholastic for my copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

[Alex Green]

so good ❤️

[Sifa Poulton]

I received a review copy from the publisher in preparation for an upcoming UKYASpotlight interview. It has not affected my opinions.

NEVERLAST uses a speculative premise to create a fun thriller.

This book sits at the urban fantasy/dystopian boundary. There's no magic really, just some people able to heal from almost anything - they don't have super strength or anything. It's our world and events (the world cup is taking place during the book!) just with these perpetuals. It's an interesting mix and has secret society vibes.

Gracie discovering she's mortal when everyone around her isn't was a really nice way for the book to explore the feeling of overbearing parents. Many teens struggle with this and Gracie is an extreme version. The book does make her parents' concern feel stifling, trapping her from doing anything interesting as they're suddenly very scared about the consequences. You really feel for Gracie and the injustice of it, but also understand where her parents are coming from.

The dangerous sport at the heart of the book is parkour. As someone who is afraid of heights (plus has vertigo and balance issues from muscular issues), it was interesting to read a book about a sport I have exactly zero interest in. The thrills are clearly communicated but I could also very much understand the gut-lurching nope of the risks, particularly in the final sequence.

Arty (Gracie's ex) is an interesting character. I very much did not like him for the way he broke up with her. We understand the why of it over the course of the book, but the fact he could do that was a massive red flag for me, so I never got behind him as a love interest. But hey, teens don't always make the decision an adult might consider right - and relationship red flags can be subjective.

[Caitlin Furniss]

YA isn’t really my usual reading territory anymore, but Neverlast was a genuinely enjoyable read. It’s a fun thriller and I liked the way it played with ideas around mortality, freedom and how much control we should have over the people we love.

The whole concept of the Perpetuals was really interesting. I liked that the world still felt recognisably ours, rather than being a completely separate fantasy universe, with the supernatural element sitting underneath everything. Gracie discovering that she’s mortal while everyone around her isn’t created such an interesting dynamic, particularly with her parents. Their fear for her safety becomes increasingly suffocating, and I thought that was a really relatable exploration of the tension between wanting to protect someone and actually letting them live.

And then there’s the parkour. I am absolutely not the target audience for a book centred around extreme sports, but I still found the action genuinely tense. The risks felt very real, and there were definitely moments where I was internally screaming at Gracie to PLEASE stop doing whatever she was doing and holding my breath.

I was a little more conflicted about the romance, particularly Arty. I understood his motivations more as the story progressed, but the way he handled their breakup was a huge red flag for me and I never fully got on board with him as a love interest.

Overall, this was a really fun, fast-paced YA thriller with an original premise, plenty of tension and more emotional depth than I was expecting. Definitely one I’d recommend to YA readers.

[Mills]

I want to start this review by saying a huge thank you to Vic at Instabooktours for having me on this tour.

I really liked the premise of this book and I am so pleased that it met my expectations! I will preface this by saying, if you are not well-versed in the fantasy genre, I would suggest picking this one up! Fantasy confuses me beyond belief, but this book was so incredibly easy to follow.

As a main character, Gracie was extremely likeable, and I really felt for her as we watched her realise how different she was from her parents. I think Cunningham showed impeccably the dangers of parents who 'bubble wrap' their children, and provide them a world where mistakes cannot occur.

I thought that the dangerous sport of Parkour was so original and, whilst I am not the sportiest of people myself, I understood and felt the excitement that was experienced because of the sport. It felt rather refreshing to see something like this in the novel rather than generic 'thrills'.

I honestly really enjoyed this one, and it would be perfect for YA readers, and those who love extreme sports.

[Claire Smith-Simmons]

This was an adrenaline fueled read which felt fresh and exciting. I could easily see this translating to film with the high octane parkour and the vivid cityscapes of London, Paris and New York.

I loved that Grace really grew throughout the book, a simple accident shifting her whole world view and for those around her. That she had to find her new belief and help others around her adjust as well. Her Pet friends were a fantastic diverse range of supporting characters and I especially loved her cousin Fröya for having her back no matter what.

Overall it was fast paced, humourous, exciting and thrilling. The heist element was a great twist and the story also threw in some thinking points around longevity and the power of healing, living and acceptable risks.

Thank you to the author and Scholastic for my copy.

[Allie Reynolds]

I was lucky enough to read an early version of this book from the author. It's an action-packed, exciting, unique supernatural YA story that's crying out to be made into a movie! Neverlast has Sue's trademark humour and fast-paced compelling plot.

As a former extreme sports athlete, I loved the addition of parcour, rock-climbing and other dangerous activities in this story! There are lots of exciting action scenes and tense moments of danger. I also loved the romance subplot and culturally diverse characters.

The story also tackles some deep themes, raising thought-provoking questions about life and its precious moments (known as glimmers in the story) and mortality.

Exciting, unique and incredibly compelling!

[Mirela W]

Neverlast is such a great YA story that talks about love, freedom, family ties, friendship and the idea around mortality.
Although a fantasy book, the story is really close to really and today's world.
Gracie, the main female character is such a likable person and what stuck with me was her realisation of being different to her family and friends. However, her determination to help those around her shows that she's not thinking only about her differences but about people she cares about.
The story is so well written, easy to read, really enjoyable and the scenes described feels so real that made me think how close to really this book is.
I would recommend this book to anyone who like fantasy that is closed to reality.
I am looking forward to read more books by Sue Cunningham.

[Amelia Yates]

When Gracie finds out she is a Neverlast, a mortal in a family in Perpetuals her life is turned upside down. Her previous adrenaline filled life is thrown into chaos.

What would you do if you found out you would live a normal mortal lifespan in a family who will live for 1000s of years and can heal from virtually any injury?

I had so much fun reading this a great easy upper YA read. I really liked the premise of perpetuals and how they fit in within mortal society. Having to constantly change names, identities and lives. The fear of being discovered and the harm done to those in their community who have been captured.

The story was exciting mix of mystery, heist and coming of age when everyone around you is different.

[Beth FK]

Sue Cunningham has fast become one of my must-read authors, and this latest speculative YA did not disappoint. It felt so filmic, with its parkour and climbing scenes, its pacy heist-based plot, and the various gorgeous international locations - a film producer must surely pick this one up?! As well as all the action, however, there is also Sue’s trademark emotional depth combined with witty dialogue and believable teen angst. I loved the wider cast of characters, who felt well-rounded and great fun to hang out with. It reminded me of Joss Stirling’s Savant series a little, which I’d loved.
Many thanks to the publisher for this early read.

[Liv]

Gracie's family is immortal, but she has just discovered that she isn't like them. Suddenly her entire community is treating her differently, knowing that she will age and die (assuming disease or injury don't get her first) and she feels alone, desperate to prove that she can still be part of their world.

I enjoyed this book well enough but wasn't blown away. It kept me interested while I was reading it, but I wasn't rushing to pick it back up every time I had a break. It's an easy, young, fast read and did the trick.

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

[Ravena Guron]

Sue is one of my go-to authors to get myself out of a reading slump! All of her books so far have been such fun reads and NEVERLAST is no exception! It has all of what I feel like are Sue's now trademark heart, wit and poignancy, exploring complex relationships with an original take on the implications of immortality. Gracie is a main character to root for and I was eagerly turning the pages to see how everything would end up for her!

[Tia Fisher]

Sue Cunningham has done it again - another delicious paranormal romance where love triumphs over mortality. Fans of her previous books Totally Deceased and Cloud Nine going to love Neverlast.
Exciting and poignant in turns, Neverlast is an action-packed thrill-packed but thoughtful ride.
Trigger warning: Read in a sitting position if you're nervous of heights or faint at the mention of blood! 😂

Thanks to Sue and Scholastic for my advanced copy.

[Emma]

What a fantastic thrill ride of a book! I've read Sue's previous books and loved them, and this is another full of tension, action and threads of romance and wit throughout. A refreshing and different take on the concept of being immortal, alongside a cast of characters that felt well-rounded and believable. I found myself keen to get back to the book, and read this in two sittings as I enjoyed it so much!

[Katja Kaine]

A heartfelt, laugh-out-loud story about the leaps you will make for those you love. Sue Cunningham has a special knack for blending the light with the profound, delivering an exciting page-turner filled with witty, loveable characters, and threaded with thought-provoking insights on reaching across what divides us and of cherishing each precious moment. Such an enjoyable read.

[LK]

Loved it! A thrilling, high-stakes YA heist novel that races across cities and continents. Full of Cunningham's trademark warmth, humour and a brilliantly realised cast of characters, Neverlast perfectly balances a propulsive plot with emotional depth and reflections on mortality. A smart, imaginative and uplifting story about making every moment count, especially when you no longer have forever.

[Tess James-Mackey]

A fresh, fun and truly unique read that sent my imagination spiralling as I tried to imagine the impact of immortality! Between the high stakes action scenes, Cunningham masterfully navigates the tricky relationship dynamics within the group of characters, with some truly heart-warming moments.

[AJC]

Thrilling, sharp and delightfully witty, Neverlast combines a high-stakes, action packed heist with heartwarming romance and a sprinkling of the supernatural – it's the perfect page turner!

[Madeline Hockey]

This was a really cute fantasy book. It was very wholesome and a short, cosy read.

[Bernie Groves]

This was a really fun and interesting YA urban fantasy. Whilst there isn't any magic in the book, the characters we focus on called Perpetuals, people who can heal and live exceptionally long lives. The FMC discovers that she isn't actually a Perpetual and instead is a Neverlast (a human) and the fallout from that is what she is dealing with throughout the book.

Its a really interesting concept as so many fantasy books focus on characters who suddenly discover they have powers, whereas this one is the opposite. There is another plotline that runs through the book which keeps the story moving along at a good pace, but i really enjoyed the parts about Gracie learning how to cope with her new reality.

Seeing the dynamics changing between her and her parents and her and her friends was engaging and done really well. I imagine lots of teenagers would relate to the FMC in this area.