Discover the Destroyer

Everworld #5

by K.A. Applegate

There is a place that shouldn’t exist. But does. And there are creatures that shouldn’t exist. But do. Welcome to a land where all of your dreams and nightmares are very real—and often deadly. Welcome to Everworld.

Senna. The one and only reason David, Christopher, April and Jalil find themselves in a place that is magical and terrifying and wonderful all at once. Senna is also the reason they can’t get back to their own world. It seems she only shows up when she wants to be found. And she always disappears.

At the moment, Senna is the least of their problems. Now they have to make a choice: Outsmart the dragon that killed Galahad—or die. And the odds of David and the others surviving by themselves aren’t very good. But they’ve met some Everworld residents that might be willing to help for a price: Senna.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Mythology, Fiction, Adventure, Urban Fantasy, Science Fiction

171 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

also published under the name Katherine Applegate

Reviews

[Thibault Busschots · Rating 4 out of 5]

The gang has to recover a giant dragon’s heart. If they don’t return in six days, their own hearts will explode. This has a bit of a silly but fascinating premise and setting. The quest-like plot is quite strong, with plenty of time being spent fleshing out David as the character who’s pretty much reluctantly pushed into the leadership role.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars, so I have no idea where to rate it (WHY DOESN'T GOODREADS HAVE HALF-STAR RATINGS). I'm adding said half-star mainly for the revelations(!!!) you have about David towards the end, which bowled me over because I had completely forgotten about it. It casts a light on the long-lingering effects of child sexual abuse, for sure, and along with one of KAA's behind-the-scenes quotes at the end of this review, I think the themes are coming out stronger. This series is very interested in perceived weaknesses and how you get past them, and personal damage and how you get past it. The Everworld cast started off broken from the get-go. This is a very long quote, but it's So Important that I'm going to include the whole thing:

  It's funny, you know. We're free. We make choices. We weigh things in our minds, consider everything carefully, use all the tools of logic and education. And in the end, what we mostly do is what we have no choice but to do.
  Makes you think, Why bother? But you bother because you do, that's why. Because you're a DNA-brand computer running Childhood 1.0 software. They update the software but the changes are always just around the edges.
  You have the brain you have, the intelligence, the talents, the strengths and weaknesses you have, from the moment they take you out of the box and throw away the Styrofoam padding.
  But you have the fears you picked up along the way. The terrors of age four or six or eight are never superseded, just layered over. The dread I'd felt so recently, a dread that should be so much greater because the facts had been so much more horrible, still could not diminish the impact of memories that had been laid down long years before.
  It's that way all through life, I guess. I have a relative who says she still gets depressed every September because in the back of her mind it's time for school to start again. She's my great-aunt. The woman is sixty-seven and still bumming over the first day of school five-plus decades ago.
  It's sad in a way because the pleasures of life get old and dated fast. The teenage me doesn't get the jolt the six-year-old me got from a package of Pop Rocks. The me I've become doesn't rush at the memories of the day I skated down a parking ramp however many years ago.
  Pleasure fades, gets old, gets thrown out with last year's fad. Fear, guilt, all that stuff stays fresh.
  Maybe that's why people get so enraged when someone does something to a kid. Hurt a kid and he hurts forever. Maybe an adult can shake it off. Maybe. But with a kid, you hurt them and it turns them, shapes them, becomes part of the deep, underlying software of their lives. No delete.
  I don't know. I don't know much. I feel like I know less all the time. Rate I'm going, by the time I'm twenty-one I won't know a damned thing.

This sort of philosophical tangent has next-to-nothing to do with the plot of the book itself, but it's one of the things I love most, because it reminds me of all the internal dilemmas & philosophising the Animorphs had to do towards the end of their series. And though I don't personally connect with David that much (his obsessive, dependent relationship with Senna is not something I can empathise with), his trauma & still reeling from it and having nightmares about it, years and years later, makes me feel so much for him.

I also like that this book has a firmer structure, a specific goal the group has to tackle, plus them being more proactive on their quest and sciencing their way out of problems using one of their few advantages: real-world technology & knowledge. I just love seeing people jerry-rig solutions (part of my enjoyment in The Martian tbh). You also see Christopher and Jalil acting as a dream team too, the former being their smooth charismatic salesman, the latter their scientist.

Also: My favourite thing is the half-a-satyr. This book includes some of my favourite funny quotes from the series that I remembered best -- I think I must have typed them up into a text file when I was a kid, because they were just so firmly branded in my memory.

Also also: I love Nidhoggr!!! He is so fantastic. And I love that at the end, they pull a risky gamble just in order to save April. They had a guaranteed way out of their predicament and to save their own skins: but they risked it all, put their lives on the line, trusting in David because they wanted April to survive too or bust. These boys. :") The group is definitely coalescing, and I like seeing it.

Just a couple negatives from me:
- Not enough April!!
- I'm just confused about why David brought Senna along at the end, if he didn't need her for his scheme and they parted ways shortly after and he didn't care. Did he just want to get her out of the way, since she wouldn't have done well left behind with Christopher & Jalil, being hardly the group's favourite person after having stone-cold betrayed April? Did he purposefully want to let her go? idk man.

I had never heard about this quote until Nemo brought it up in comments, but KA Applegate said this back in the 90s:

As for the characters, it's hard to compare because the ANIMORPH characters have had a long time to evolve while the EVERWORLD characters are brand new, out of the oven. I've told my editors that the difference between Jake and David is the difference between George Washington and Bill Clinton. Jake is the classic leader. David is a bit more ambiguous. Beyond that, the only real parallel is between EVERWORLD's Christopher and ANIMORPH's Marco. They both have a sense of humor, but Christopher is a more troubled person with a certain narrow-mindedness complicated by a nascent drinking problem. April and Jalil have some small similarities to Cassie and Ax respectively, but not a lot.

I can't say that the EVERWORLD characters are more complex, because I think the ANIMORPH characters are also fairly complex. I think the EVERWORLD characters are just older, and thus have had more time to develop problems.

I find this fascinating and so great. I can't even really comment eloquently on this quote, because KAA already said it all.

Anyway, aforementioned favourite quotes from Discover the Destroyer:
  The only thing that marred the trimmed, artificial perfection was the sight of the satyr's legs bounding along.
  "Man, what is going on with that?" Christopher wondered.
  "It must feel some affinity for us. Maybe some inchoate attraction," Jalil suggested.
  "It has no eyes," April pointed out. "How does it follow us? I mean, it has no head. No nothing."
  "You know, I think on the scale of mysteries, how it follows us is maybe less mysterious than the mere fact that it can move at all," Jalil pointed out.
  "Jalil, you talk so purty when you want to," Christopher said. "When you do that I feel an inchoate attraction for you."

***

  He stood up and pointed to the half-a-satyr. Sandy's lower half had just plowed into the wall on our right.
  "What is that mad thing?" he demanded. "It's following you, and it with no eyes, nor face to put eyes in, nor even a head, nor shoulders to put a head on.
  [...] April answered for us. "It's the bottom half of a satyr."
  The leprechaun jerked visibly. He stared at April. Stared at me. "The bottom half of a satyr? What are you doing with the bottom half of a satyr?"
  I started to answer but Christopher jumped in smoothly. "You like it? Maybe we could make a deal."
  The leprechaun got a car-dealer look in his blue eyes. "I've see better half-a-satyrs."
  "No you haven't," Christopher said firmly. "This is top-of-the-line half-a-satyr."
  The fairy bit his lower lip and muttered to himself. "I've no place to keep it. I could stick it in the shed for a while, maybe, but it'd be running into the walls keeping me awake all night. I'd have to trade it away soon as could be."
  "We'll trade you the half-a-satyr for the entrance tax," Christopher said.
  "Done," the leprechaun said. He still looked worried, like he was trying to figure out where to stick the running goat legs. "Still, it won't eat much, eh?"

***

It was a good long walk to the market and my optimism had faded long before we got there. Night will do that to you. Darkness eats optimism.

***

I felt dead. My heart... I was dead, wasn't I? Dead and going through the motions of life. Playing the hero and nobody giving a damn.

***

Or [death] might mean escape from Everworld. Escape from the mad world of gods and myths and aliens. Imprisonment forever in the real world. How would I live now? How would I go through the motions, the school, the tests, the college, the jobs, the life, the already-tired life that awaited me?

[NOTE FROM JULIE: I like that David still thinks this, but it's become more subtle, just an undercurrent to his thoughts, rather than him outright idolising Everworld -- by now, he's more than aware of its dark sides, after all.]

[Nemo (The ☾Moonlight☾ Library) · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Everworld team are at the mercy of a dragon who has demanded they retrieve his stolen goods for him or else their replaced hearts will burn with dragon fire in six days. The team plus Senna (who is a witch and hasn’t had her heart replaced) travel to Fairy Land to earn their hearts back and attempt to trick, blackmail or bluff the leprechauns into giving the stolen goods back.

This novel completes the circle and we’re back to David’s narration now. This book goes deeper into David’s characterisation with the suggestion of child sex abuse being the reason he’s not as brave as he could be and not as strong a leader as he could be. I personally feel that David’s probably not the best leader; he doesn’t want to lead and he’s forced into the position by the rest of the team, but only when it suits them. Facing down a dragon? Here’s your sword David, go kill it. You go first.

This novel is really the first one where the team have an absolute goal and timeframe to complete it in. This makes it the easiest to read so far. The weird magic of EverWorld means that even though their hearts have been replaced by rubies, their blood still pumps. Senna’s heart wasn’t taken, because she’s a cold hearted bitch and the dragon would have had to replace it with a diamond, and he’s cheap, being a dragon obsessed with treasure. But Senna still tags along and creates chaos and attempts to turn the group against each other when it suits her. April really just needs to punch her in the face. I’m not fooled by Senna’s sympathetic act, she’s a user and she’s desperate and a control freak.

David’s second story was worth a go because of the nature of the quest and the amusing scenes such as a nymph infatuated by Jalil, but because of David’s tendency to hate himself and his perceived unworthiness to lead this rag-tag crew, it was still a little frustrating. He’ll never be classic leader material, but it sure does make him layered.

[₊‧ ୨୧mollie_ anneliese⸆⸉(kai azer’s version)₊‧ ୨୧ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.65\ 5 ☆

I really truly enjoyed this one! It was very captivating and Davids POVS are always very interesting!
I don't have too much to say about it, but I'm glad that I am reading this series and I hope to read\get the 6th one soon :)

Katherine Applegate is always so wonderful! This was one of her first books (i'm pretty sure) and its COMPLETELY different from the Endling series or Willodeen, or any others of hers! But I defo recommend her books (any of them, really)!

Good job Katherine! Very enjoyable and I didn't want to put it down. <33

~Mollie

[Caitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know why this one took me so long to finish! It was really, really good. Although I love Animorphs more, the one thing this has going for it is how short the series is and how much stuff is crammed in each book. Each book seems immensely satisfying, even if they don't quite get very far. Poor David :( I liked reading from his perspective, made me really really feel for him :(

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

   In this book, our Everworld kids have to complete the task set to them by the great dragon Nidhoggr – reclaim his stone, sword, spear, and cauldron of Daghdha from the fairies of Fairy Land– within six days or have their ruby-replaced-hearts burst into flame and kill them for failing. When I first read the quest they had, I thought it would be drawn out over a couple of books, as four items are typically worth a different ‘adventure’ to get each one, though that ended up not being the case. Which begs the question our group asks themselves and has to figure out: how do the Little Folk survive in a world where dragons and the Midgard serpent and gods galore cavort and destroy? David, Christopher, Jalil, April, and Senna are about to find out.

   I have to say, it makes a huge difference when one of these installments acts more like a connected-stand-alone with an actual “end” to it, instead of just an installment which acts more like a story-beginning-middle-on-to-the-next-book. I am more inclined to up its rating more or less as a result of that (almost). At the very least, I enjoyed having that sort of a structure to the story, instead of it just being boom-boom-boom one event after another with no real denouement or ‘ending.’ So, while it has 3 stars, it's more of a 3.5 or 3.6, rounded down. The revelation at David is what really bumps it up from a solid 3.

   When the story has the usual beginning-middle-end setup, as this one does, it feels much more complete, and I have noticed that even the story themes brought up in it seem more solid, more defined. There is a definite idea of what needs to happen, there are defined goals that the Everworld kids are trying to reach (more than just “live another day,” that is), and somehow it also means that the tough topics that get brought up end up getting fleshed out more than in other books.

   Once more, we do not get to wear any rose-colored glasses for this installment. David is openly (to the reader, at least) commenting on his fears, on his shortcomings, on what he wants to be, and on how he sees the group dynamic needing changing. He is really struggling and doing his best to be a “good leader,” being attentive to how each member of his team operates, and then to try to figure out how to get their little pieces to work together. He’s not as analytical as, say, Jalil, but he gets the broad scope of each member – it is like he is standing outside watching them, and commenting on what he sees, instead of being in the middle of it all. I also appreciated that basic needs, which so often are glossed over in narratives, were addressed: the kids are hungry, they haven’t really eaten much in a couple of days, and they still need to go to the bathroom somehow, somewhere. And how sick and tired they are of being filthy from their travels, and how all of those physical discomforts contributes to their states of mind and how short they can be with each other.

   Some of the brief “big ideas” which were addressed included gang rape (in reference to the nymph they save from satyrs), what determines “the real world,” the power horrible memories can hold over us no matter how long ago they happened, what constitutes “weakness” and “strength,” as well as the revelation that the memories David has of the boy in the cabin getting raped are memories of what happened to him, not some other kid. I especially thought that was a shock, maybe not entirely surprising given what we have seen of David through Everworld and his memories, but definitely a shock. It really explains a lot about him, and gives us a solid background upon which to interpret who he is as a person. It also gives that much more depth to his internal monologue about how much worse it is to hurt a kid, because a kid hurts forever, will be afraid forever – it will utterly change and reshape who he/she is.

   Overall, this book is markedly better than book 4, in that it has a much more clear plot, it does not seem so all-over-the-place, and the strength of the story itself lends strength to the big ideas/themes which come up as the book progresses. And as this is David’s second narrated book, we get to see more of how he is evolving in response to his experiences in Everworld, how he is reinterpreting his memories and coming to terms with his experiences growing up and how they have shaped who he is today. Oddly enough, I think the craziness that is Everworld is helping to force David (with no small contribution from Senna) to finally comprehend his past terrors, face them, and at long last, maybe even start to heal from them. The first step is always admitting to what happened, and the next step is along the lines of putting it into context with both your past and present, and starting to realize how it has affected your life, and what you want to (and can) do about it.

Quotes & comments:

   And yet, I had the sword again. And with the sword came the responsibility, the unspoken demand to “do something.”
   Here you go, David, we’re screwed now, so be the hero again. You die first. – page 3

   And then, as we watched with horrified fascination, the four rubies began to beat. Beat. Beat.
   And inside my chest I felt a sudden stillness. A quiet, an absence no man has ever felt and lived to tell of. – page 7 – When those trolls held out the rubies, I knew it was going to be this happening, in essence.

   I couldn’t help it. My eyes filled with tears. Couldn’t help it. Too much bad in my head. Too much fear-sweat dried on my skin. Too much adrenaline residue in my veins.Too many pictures, live-action, full-color, HDTV so real pictures in my memory. So many, how would I ever have room for anything else in there? What could ever claim a place between the scenes of horror? – page 16

   But the day hadn’t yet come when I could turn away from someone screaming from help. – page 19 – I beg to differ, David. You have done that plenty of times in the past, it seems, when you heard the call for help, but then didn’t do anything about it.

   Save who you can, David I told myself. Do what you can. You couldn’t kill Hel, couldn’t change her, couldn’t save her victims. Do what you can.
   Be a man when you can, I sneered. Be a man when the odds aren’t too long, when the risk isn’t too great. Story of your life, isn’t it, David? -- page 19-20

   “Of course she doesn’t want to go with them,” April exploded. “Does she want to be gang-raped in the woods? What kind of a question is that to even ask?” – page 26 – I shouldn’t be surprised by the things this series brings up, but still. Let’s add to the gathering of elephants in the room, shall we? Which is great, but then not all of these big topics seem to get actually addressed. Brought up, yes, but not addressed. This series would probably make for a good book discussion group, though.

   “You call it the real world?” Idalia asked. “Is this not real as well?”
   I shrugged. It was disturbing talking to Idalia. […] “I guess Everworld is as real as our own world. But they all feel more like they belong over there.”
   “My Jalil, too?” […]
   “Yeah,” I answered belatedly. “I think Jalil feels more like the real…the Old World is his world.”
   “But not you?”
   I shrugged. “I cope with what is. I try and deal with reality, you know, take it as it comes.”
   AgainIdalia laughed. “Poor mortal.”
   And then she was gone in a green blur. […] I breathed a sigh of relief. The nymph was an unknown. I didn’t need unknowns right now. The known was enough trouble. – page 46-47

   [I snapped at Jalil,] “I’ll do the right thing, you smug jerk, I’ll do the right thing. You guys are quick enough to ask me what’s what when there’s some kind of danger.”
   Jalil nodded. “Yeah.You’re right. But you know what, David? We’re true-blue Americans, we’re not some kind of Iraqis or Serbs or whatever. We’re not in the Cult of David. None of us is into going down in flames. We don’t do that whole ‘follow the fool till he gets us all killed’ thing.” He grinned cynically. “You’re our hero, David. Till you screw up.” – page 56

   “That’s the story.” [Jalil confirmed.]
   I didn’t have anything to say to that. Jalil was lying to protect my reputation. No, correction: he was lying because I was useful to him, to the group as a whole, and Jalil has a good, sharp eye for self-interest.
   And for now that meant he owned me. A piece of me, at least. – page 62 – David, you seem to have quite a few people owning a piece of you. Jalil here, Senna as we’ve already seen…

   We’d had about a two day food deficit. – page 72 – I appreciate that this series brings up these little things which so often get glossed over in stories – basic needs like food and going to the bathroom, things that we just assume will be in the story/take for granted, but that is not always how it is. When you’re in a strange place like Everworld, you have to actively seek out these things.

   Christopher was holding his head like he could squeeze out all the memories [of Hel’s Underworld].
   It was frightening how easily it could all be uncovered. When would those memories ever be watered down and lose their power? Never. No trick of mind would ever clean my memory. – page 83-84 – Hm. Having finished the book now, I wonder if David is referring to more than just Hel’s Underworld? My guess is, most likely.

   “Damn it, Jalil, knock it off!” I yelled.
   He smirked. “Perfect, isn’t it? See, we were getting along too well. Now April’s been demonized, David has stepped back into his role as Senna’s boy, I look like a coldhearted creep, and Christopher’s been punished for giving the witch grief. She’s so good she should be teaching this stuff.”
   Was that a shadow of a smile on Senna’s lips? No, surely not. No. There were real tears in her eyes. She was one of us, in the end.
   And yet, a nagging voice reminded me as I unconsciously pressed my hand to my silent chest, there were four rubies. Not five. – page 85

   If I was a leader I was doing a piss-poor job. We were fragmented, disunited. And I was just one of the fragments. We seemed incapable of working together. Each of us was a unit, none of us part of a team. – page 87 – I am finding it really interesting how David is struggling with being the leader, and doing the job “right.” He’s working the leader role from the “outside,” I would say, where he observes what is going on and does his best to figure out what action he needs to take to correct it or make it better. If he was working it from the “inside” then he would not be so reflective and consciously observant about his fellow team members.

   “You have Advil?” Senna demanded eagerly.
   “Cramps?”
   “In a couple days,” Senna admitted.
   April smirked. “What do you know? I finally have something you want.” – page 94 – Another point which does not get brought up too often: women and their periods, and how they will manage them in whatever circumstances they find themselves in. Of all the young adult fiction I have read, I really only remember this being brought up in Tamora Pierce’s series, perhaps most notably the Song of the Lioness quartet.

   “Which is better, David, to do a harmful thing with the best of intentions? Or to do the useful thing, whatever your motivations?” [Senna asked me.] – page 120

   Now I crawled knowing there was no truth to it, knowing there would never be love, but crawling just the same because I was weak and she was strong and I wanted it to be that way. I had to go to her because I had to, that was all. Because she was where I had to be, because there was no going back. – page 122

   Assuming.
   The unspoken but definite probability was that we might not be able to outbid Ka Anor. That was the problem. Ransom Nidhoggr’s crap, save our own lives? Yeah, that, maybe. But April?
   In our minds we’d already come to that point. We already knew, see. Subtly our efforts had become about saving our own asses, not rescuing April. But that couldn’t be the way it was. – page 132

   [I explained my plan,] “Just one thing: We have something we want to get back, too.”
   [Jalil said,] “April.”
   “No one gets left behind.”
   Jalil nodded. Yawned. “You taking Senna?”
   “Yeah. She’s my responsibility.”
   Jalil laughed. “That’s your curse, David: Everything is your responsibility.” – page 136 – David sure does try to take on all of the responsibility. Making up for lost chances, in part, it seems.

   “I love you,” I whispered [to the unconscious Senna]. “And maybe you do own me. But I’m getting everyone out of this alive. Even you.” – page 139

   And the trees…through the trees, a cabin made of logs. – page 142 – Oh, David…

   It’s funny, you know. We’re free. We make choices. We weigh things in our minds, consider everything carefully, use all the tools of logic and education. And in the end, what we mostly do is what we have no choice but to do.
   Makes you think, Why bother? But you bother because you do, that’s why. Because you’re a DNA-brand computer running Childhood 1.0 software. They update the software but the changes are always just around the edges.
   You have the brain you have, the intelligence, the talents, the strengths and weaknesses you have, from the moment they take you out of the box and throw away the Styrofoam padding.
   But you have the fears you picked up along the way. The terrors of age four or six or eight are never superseded, just layered over. The dread I’d felt so recently, a dread that should be so much greater because the facts had been so much more horrible, still could not diminish the impact of memories that had been laid down long years before.
   It’s that way all through life, I guess. […] It’s sad in a way because the pleasures of life get old and dated fast. The teenage me doesn’t get the jolt the six-year-old me got from a package of Pop Rocks. The me I’ve become doesn’t rush at the memories of the day I skated down a parking ramp however many years ago.
   Pleasure fades, gets old, gets thrown out with last year’s fad. Fear, guilt, all that stuff stays fresh.
   Maybe that’s why people get so enraged when someone does something to a kid. Hurt a kid and he hurts forever. Maybe an adult can shake it off. Maybe. But with a kid, you hurt them and it turns them, shapes them, becomes part of the deep, underlying software of their lives. No delete. – page 145-146

   I looked at my dad. He was still navy, despite being long retired. He was still navy.
   You don’t leave your own behind. – page 152

   Cynicism is a weak force in Everworld. It was one of our very few advantages. – page 159

   [I told Nidhoggr,] “The deal is you bust my friend out of the dungeons of the fairy king and queen.”
   Nidhoggr frowned. “The redhead or the witch?”
   “The redhead.”
   He nodded his bouncing blimp head again. “Good choice. Witches are never anything but trouble. Their hearts are hard. I’d have had to use a diamond to exchange for that one’s heart.”
   I almost laughed. Nidhoggr had spared Senna through cheapness. – page 157

   “They risked it all to save me,” April said. “You all did. How am I going to go on thinking that the three of you are idiots when you go and do something like that?”
   We laughed. First time in a while. – page 168

Swear count:
Damned (4, 9, 102, 147x2)
Bitch (17, 30)
Damn (17, 89, 144, 155, 169, 170)
Damn it/dammit (47, 85, 98, 103, 151, 152)
Dickweeds (56)
Ass-whippings (59)
Damned idiot (87)
What the hell I’m doing (pg 112x2)
What the hell do we do (113)
Giving hell (119)
Hell (127, 135)
Asses, ass (132, 134)
God-damned (143)
Jackass (165)
I had one more page marked, but my sticky note came out, and I don’t know which page it was, and if it was marked for a swear word or a good quote…

[Sha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plot: Teenagers trapped in fucked up parallel universe go to fairyland on a quest to retrieve a dragons lost treasure.

1. Expanded Plot Summary: David offers to get back Nidhoggr's stolen treasure for him. Nidhoggr agrees and replaces the quartet's hearts with time-bomb rubies, leaving Senna alone. Everyone including Senna go to fairyland. They get captured by fairy royalty, discover they are in bed with the Hetwan, and Senna gets them out by claiming April is the witch and letting her get caught. Jalil decides the group needs money and starts to develop a rudimentary telegraph system. David figures out the faeries secret plan to kill Nidhoggr, and drags Senna along while going to bargain with him. David convinces Nidhoggr to save April in trade. Everyone skedaddles out of fairyland with money from their telegraph venture, only to find themselves in the land of the Hetwan.

2. So uh, I had absolutely forgotten about David having been sexually abused and his wannabe hero mentality coming from there and not to brag but I think it was because pre teen me couldn't actually figure out what was happening there. Such innocence.

3. Senna is excellent as usual, because I have a crippling weakness for ruthless characters, even if (possibly especially when) they are assholes. I also love the rising animosity she's racking up with everyone else as she tries to control them. This whole scene;

"Well done all the way. Senna," Jalil said. "Perfect timing, just when no one is expecting it. Perfect opening. You set us up with happy girlhood memories of going off to see the wizard, and then wham, down comes the hammer. Or should I say, in goes the wedge?"

Senna shook her head, too tired, too emotional to answer, to defend herself.

"Leave her alone, Jalil, you don't know what you're talking about," I said.

"You peeled off April as the poor old stick-in-the-mud who didn't understand how cool it was to be in this Technicolor world, then you bang the wedge in with some sob stories. You make April look like an insensitive, self-righteous jerk, and you? You're poor pitiful Senna with David as your protector."

"Damn it, Jalil, knock it off!" I yelled.

He smirked. "Perfect, isn't it? See, we were getting along too well. Now April's been demonized, David has stepped back into his role as Senna's boy, I look like a coldhearted creep, and Christopher's been punished for giving the witch grief. She's so good she should be teaching this stuff."

The thing is, I'm pretty sure there was truth in that screed Senna hurled at April. I'm sure there was hatred and calculation, but there was also truth. Enough hatred to affect April, make her think she's being a bitch. Enough visceral description to knock Christopher out of his comfort zone and into gibbering terror. Enough vulnerability to give David hope, to make him feel like he should be protecting her. And yeah- it showcases Jalil's ruthless side, even as he is keenly aware how Senna can dismantle him with a touch, especially here. An absolute masterclass.

4. David makes- well. Not that much more sense, but his motivations are put in context. He's the guy walking into the fire knowing it will hurt but thinking he has to do it anyway. I'm actually a little interested to see how he's going to view Senna when he sees her again, because she just spent some time mind raping him and then possibly leaving him for dead. Possibly caring for him. I think David was too weak to have survived the whole sickness spell by himself. But is Senna doing it for him, or for herself. I mean obviously the latter but to what degree?

5. The relationship between April and Senna continues to sour. At this point it is outright hatred and I can only see it getting worse. Senna may be recalibrating her group dynamics.

6. I'm happy to see camraderie developing between the quartet! As David himself notes he's the hero and he came through until the next time until Senna. And he did- he took what was a clear victory and he went against Senna to save April. Also, it's hilarious when Senna gets blindsided- and her anger at it was terrifying- no you're not sorry, but you will be and boy was he. Plus, Christopher and Jalil refusing to buy back the treasures, trusting David and knowing that of they did April would be taken by the Hetwan. This is trust, you guys. This is sacrifice. This is people coming together and I'm grinning with delight.

7. Onward, to alien lands!

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

And we're back to the dynamics of David's obsession with manhood, and while the others are not exactly wrong not to trust him with executive decisions because of his hero complex and because he's Senna's yes-man, it's also hard not to sympathize with him when they're all too willing to put him in charge when it comes time to decide whose job it is to face down the angry dragon:

Here you go, David, we're screwed now, so be the hero again. You die first.

As a matter of fact, this was the first point in the series where I started to feel real sympathy for David. First of all, because we really start to see just how badly the others have been treating him. On one side, we've got Senna brainwashing him and using magic to mess with his mind. On the other hand, we've got everyone else in the group, who refuse to trust him with any real authority but still want to avoid getting their own hands dirty, and are happy enough to push him to the forefront whenever the shit hits the fan and they need a fall guy:

"What do you want from me, Jalil?" I demanded. "You want me to kill her? Is that it?"

Christopher said, "It sure would solve a lot of problems, wouldn't it?"

I yanked my sword from its scabbard. I held it out for Christopher. "Here. Do it."

"Screw you, David, she's your—"

"How about you, Jalil? Here. Here's the sword. Kill her."

For a long, horrible moment I thought Jalil might do it. But then his eyes wavered, looked away.

"I've had it with this crap," I ranted. "Whenever it's convenient you push me out front and say, 'Go, David, take over.'"

"Like I said, David, we aren't going down with the Titanic just because you can't see the iceberg."

"You know what, Jalil? Then you carry the sword and do what needs doing. You want me to lead, then when it hits the fan you bail out on me. This goes both ways, man, both ways. You want a leader, then you have to follow. A little, at least. I never pretended to be perfect. I haven't lied to you and said, 'Follow me, I know what the hell I'm doing.' I don't know what the hell I'm doing. I'm in the middle of a tornado here and you're sitting there all smug saying, 'Hey, man, don't mess up.'"

And that toxic masculinity hero complex that David has such a problem with? Turns out it stems from a childhood trauma of being molested by a camp counselor and being angry at himself for his inability to fight back, an experience he'd dissociated to the point where he literally thought that he'd been watching it happen to some other kid.

Overall, the ending of this book was probably the most satisfying so far. We got to see David, Jalil, and Christopher all come through for April when she needed it most. We finally got to see David stand up to Senna—he might have been trying to subdue her rather than get back at her for all the manipulation and brainwashing (not to mention how consensual sleeping with her was likely not), but it was still damn satisfying when he clocked her in the face after all the shit she'd pulled. And, when the book ended, the group of them were finally getting along! Though I doubt this will last long, I'm going to enjoy it while I can.

[Rolo · Rating 3 out of 5]

As someone loved, grew up on, and was shaped by the Animorphs series, I’m pretty disappointed by Everworld. You might be saying, “Hey, cut K. A. Applegate some slack. Those books are meant for teenagers and you’re not a teenager anymore.” NO! I've reread the Animorphs a couple of times as an adult. I still love them. Everworld sports a couple of very major and very common problems I have with fantasy books, young adult or otherwise.

The biggest problem is that I don’t like the characters. Most of them are good examples of annoying teenagers. I can deal with unlikable POV characters if they’re interesting, but not annoying. How can a character anchor you into a story if they annoy you?

The next problem is an overwhelmingly common problem I have with fantasy books. I hate reading about people wondering lost in the forest. I like hearing them whine about it, even less! That stuff has to be kept short. I feel lost in life; I don’t need it in my fiction.

But I actually like this book more than the rest. They weren't lost, and they had clear goals. Plus, it’s from the POV of one of the only likable characters.

Will I keep reading the series? Probably. I still have hope…

[Swankivy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ahh, the kids have gone to Fairy Land to try to find the dragon's stolen treasure. They're on a time frame because their hearts have been replaced with rubies which will burst into flame and kill them if they don't come back in six days. Ooh, creepy. (Since there's an Everworld #6, one has to assume that they're successful even without reading the book.)

[Laurie Saunders · Rating 4 out of 5]

The gang enter the seemingly idyllic world of Fairy Land (and yes, there is a yellow road) but are faced with new challenges. David is the narrator and we learn an important secret about his past, one that made him who he is today.

I am really taken with the series and I admire how skillfully Applegate intertwine fantasy with real-life serious issues.

[Viresh Patel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was interesting in many ways. Though it was also a little confusing at times. There were a lot of funny scenes that made me laugh. These kids go on crazy adventures that no one can even dream of. Well, except them because the Everworld is in their dreams so I guess u can dream of it.

[Joshua Glasgow · Rating 4 out of 5]

I told my wife as I was reading this book: I think I’m all-in now on EVERWORLD. Yes, it took nearly half the series to really click with me but I think it’s finally happened.

The plot of this book is very silly, as is most of the world of Everworld; the group has to go to Fairy Land to get back a set of McGuffins which were stolen from a dragon by leprechauns. 😐 This one is a bit of a reprieve from the physical horrors of the last book, though there’s still some tension in whether they can accomplish their task before a time limit elapses, after which their hearts will explode (obviously). But what makes this book work, what’s starting to make the whole series work for me, is the psychological drama that’s playing out here.

I was maybe wrong to compare David to Jake (of ANIMORPHS fame) in my review of SEARCH FOR SENNA because while both are generic white boys inexplicably made into the leaders of a ragtag group of teenage soldiers, there is a significant difference: the rest of David’s group doesn’t really trust him. I know there was some dissension later on in the Animorphs but for the most part I seem to recall them being largely happy to have Jake be their leader/fall guy. Here, if we’re being honest, I’m not even sure any of these people are friends.

And so much of this book takes place inside of David’s head as he navigates his conflicting feelings. He’s resentful of the obvious fact that the rest of the group doesn’t trust him—except when there’s immediate danger, of course—but simultaneously aware that they may have good reason: he *is* under a spell cast by Senna. He still has feelings for Senna which he wants to believe are real but he can’t know what is or isn’t real given her hypnotic power. He’s aware she’s using him but questions how much that matters. He second guesses every choice: am I doing this because it’s my idea or hers? Am I doing this to rebel against the expectations of my so-called friends or because it’s what is right? Even absent the struggle he has with how he appears to other people, David wrestles with his own self-image. He wants to think of himself as a hero, but he can’t stop obsessing about when they first entered Everworld and he literally pissed his pants. Am I a coward? Am I worthy? And all the while he’s dealing with the trauma of the experiences they’ve had thus far—he talks about the terror of Hel’s playground as something he will never be able to scrub from his memory. And all the while he’s dealing with the madness of living two lives simultaneously, in Everworld and in what they think of as “the real world” (but what’s real, really?).

All of this inner turmoil is extraordinary and I definitely see it continuing for the remainder of the series. The fantasy elements I’m not really into, but this character-driven drama—the dysfunction of the group and the individuals within it, in conjunction with the chilling violence that permeates the land they’re in, makes for a gripping read. Also, there continue to be hints that Everworld is a façade, which intrigues me still. Take, for example, David’s description of a satyr he slices in half: there are no internal organs, like a drawing that is unfinished. Or how about the nymph, who Jalil learns is basically an automaton? But wait, does she have feelings nevertheless? Unclear. Let’s hope not, because after the group saves her from being gang-raped Christopher repeatedly makes comments objectifying her. When April tells him to stop, he goes for the standby: “It’s just a joke! Can’t she take a joke?” I’m still waiting for Chris to get some comeuppance for this type of behavior but I’m afraid it may not be enough even if it does come.

Anyway, overall this was another strong entry after the last one. For different reasons than the last one, but no less exciting. Senna even gets more screen-time here. She’s still hard to read but it’s nice that she’s being… maybe developed is too strong a word. Showcased? We may not be getting to *know* her exactly (I’m curious if eventually one of the books will be narrated by her), but we’re getting more exposure to her and that’s a start. I hope they keep this momentum going.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book 5 in the Everworld series once again sees David as our narrator. And finally the group has a goal, a purpose, aside from escaping Everworld. It's sort of a quest set-up: retrieve four mythical items for a dragon in 6 days. No pressure. Oh except that he's got their hearts, literally.

This is also the book where we get David's grim backstory. A backstory which explains his deepseated need to be a hero and prove himself. He can't stand being weak or being seen as weak, and even comments made by drunken satyrs can trigger him. He has some real childhood trauma which he has repressed. Or had repressed, until Senna shows him the truth in a moment of personal vengeance.

Senna is as vile as always. A traitor, a schemer and a manipulator. David knows this, and yet he still jumps in to defend her even when she isn't directly controlling him. So once again, I doubt it's all down to her magic. As a good friend of mine would have said "he's not stupid, so he must be in love."

David also seems to be losing touch with the real world more than the others. Sometimes the real world seems tedious to him.

My appreciation for Jalil continues to grow with each book. Jalil sees things as they are, recognises Idalia's flirting for what it is, as well as calling bullshit on Senna's sop story. I love the clarity he brings to the group. In this book he also shows his intelligence in bringing a new technology to Everworld, and while I am sceptical that a group of teenagers could not only pull it off but also pull it off in 3 days, well, whatever. I mean there is a dragon in this book. Suspend disbelief.

David is still my least favourite character, but he does have some redeeming moments in this book. 3 stars because it's his POV, maybe 3.5 stars max because it finally had a bit more plot.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first 4 books I didn't even bother to write a review on just because this is a series and I wanted to get a feel for all the characters, and the book in general. I can tell you that I did read one or two of these books back in high school and I remember loving it because it had mythology in it. Reading it now though has my mind in shreds.

I love where this series is headed so far. So just a little info on the series: 4 kids are dragged into this alternative universe by Loki an god looking to open a gateway. However in order to do that he needs a witch, a particular witch named Senna.

The story is told from the pov of the 4 kids, each book=different pov by different kid. This is from David's pov.

I don't like David, I am however interested in his background. His personality kind of annoys me and these "feelings" he has for Senna is just unsettling. I seriously want to jump in this book and chop off her head myself.

There is the one scene where Senna lies on April and gets her into major trouble. And Christopher and Jalil are giving him mad crap about it. So he takes his sword and is like "Here! You want to kill her go ahead. Chop her head off." (Not in those words but along those lines).

I am telling you now, if that had been me in that moment.... No f***s given. Choppy choppy. Ding don't the witch is dead.

I don't want to jinx it but I really like this series thus far and I am really excited about the next one.

[Namita ♛ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finished this book last night when I was struggling to go to sleep.

A 3.5 I’ve concluded.

I like the direction of where the story is going but the narration of David was so off-putting.

In this book, he tried to justify his actions from the previous 4 books and you know what?

He’s still annoying.

His POV was the reason why I couldn’t sit and read it through all at once. The characters of this series frankly aren’t super fleshed out. They’re 16 and quite two-dimensional - David and Christopher being the worst of all.

Though in this book, with thoughts right from David’s own head and the progression of their dangerous adventure, you get to see his ‘layers’ per say and subsequently I assume the others as well as I read on. I don’t see development just yet but these books does make you try and understand what they are going through. The harsh conditions and challenges they face, all the while trying to remember their moral compass in a messed up world.

They move the plot along with their struggles and the way they try and cope with it all with of course, a new character coming in play and tossing it all out of balance.

In fact there was a part of this book that I really liked and if I were to write a novel, this bit would be a great inspiration. They’re even some parts where I didn’t see coming, some revelations where you go :0


Christopher’s book is next. Oh boy...

[Fefi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finalmente un po' di calma! (SPOILER)
Questo è un volume abbastanza tranquillo. I nostri riescono finalmente a risalire in superficie,dopo aver stretto un patto con il drago (che sembra molto un Paperon de Paperoni): dovranno,in 6 giorni, trovare 3 oggetti che gli sono stati rubati dai folletti,in cambio dei loro cuori,che vengono sostituiti con dei rubini.
Così si ritrovano nel regno degli gnomi che altro non è che il motore economico di Everworld:un grande mercato dove tutte le creature si ritrovano per gli scambi commerciali.
Ma questi folletti sono ben astuti: hanno stretto alleanza con i temibili Hetwan che vogliono invadere il mondo attraverso gli inferi e, a farne le spese,sarà April,su gentile spiata di Senna(che parla poco,ma quando lo fa è davvero odiosa).
Tutto torna in mano a David,che poveretto,ormai non distingue neanche più in quale universo si trova per via di una brutta febbre,sa di essere in mano alla sua Senna,ma non fa una piega.
Nel mezzo,la compagnia incontra una ninfa,molto gatta-morta,e un gruppetto di satiri ubriachi,che come vuole la tradizione,corrono dietro alla creatura verde foglia.
Fino ad ora è il libro che mi è piaciuto di più: l'azione rallenta un po',ci sono alcune battute che ti strappano qualche risata e ora so che non sopporto Senna.

[Alex of Yoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is probably my favourite so far. We've learned a lot about Senna and David from everyone else's points of view in the other books, so circling back to David's perspective helps to round out our perceptions thus far. The author brings out his emotions, inner conflicts, and fears so poignantly that the incredible fantasy in the world around him is brought down to realistic levels. The reader can believe the story because they can relate, in one way or another, to what David's feeling. And David has a lot of feeling and frustration to dump out on us this time around. His character develops in very deep and sometimes painful ways, and we get a peek of Senna's true colours in the process. Breathtaking stuff in just the character dynamics alone! Honestly, the plot and setting are secondary in this story. The author is showcasing how different people react in incredible, traumatic situations and, more than that, how they relate to the others trapped with them. It's wonderfully done. I'm excited to get back into Christopher's head for #6!

[Brunna Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

David’s redemption arc has begun! Finally.

Our four heroes have their hearts taken by the terrifying Nidghorr and replaced with rubies that will explode in flames in 6 days, unless they can recover Nidghorr’s treasures from the fairy people. Easier said than done.

Our friends and their unwanted, but needed, witch make the trek to Fairy Land, where they meet the fairy queen and king and April is mistakenly apprehended in place of the true witch. So the boys need to work double time to recover Nidghorr’s treasure AND save April.

We also get some serious background on David, thanks to Senna’s nasty habit of throwing people’s weaknesses in their face. It’s a hard past and brings some deep layers to David’s character.

David also starts showing some resistance to Senna’s influence. He goes against what she wants twice (shocker, I know) and keeps his cool a bit better in difficult situations (although he does cut a satyr in half)

[G. Edweird Cheese · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back to David's pov.
One thing I've noticed about our group navigating Everworld... they are all flawed. David, the "hero", is over compensating for something horrible that happened to him as a kid. something that wasn't his fault at all, yet he still blames himself.
Flawed characters are always the best, because they are a reflection of ourselves.
Senna can still rot in hell for all i care. like a wise man once said, "Shes a witch! burn her!"
This installment has our intrepid group trying to get back a dragon's stolen goods from leprechauns. You know, just another day in Everworld.
This time they use their "real world" knowledge of science, and the ever helpful inherent greedyness of capitalism, to their advantage, like real 'Mericans!

[Tommy Grooms · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Discover the Destroyer, the four kids (with Senna in tow) must make off with fairy treasure to appease the dragon Nidhoggr, who has replaced their hearts with ticking time bombs. Though reduced in stature from his treatment by the last three narrators, David becomes a much more sympathetic character as we learn that much of his insecurity and hero aspirations stem from childhood trauma. There's lots to love in this volume, including Jalil's manipulation of money-hungry Fairy Land with "real world" knowledge of electricity and the telegraph.

[Rylee Creed · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's always incredibly great to see character development, and something I love about the changing POVs in this series is how you can see the best and worst of everyone depending on the POV. You see the best of David in his POV and the worst of him in Jalil's POV. This book, though, shows the VERY best of David. The moments when he stands up for himself, against Nidhoggr, against Senna, against April and Jalil and Christopher. He quit's being a raging pussy and finally saves the whole damn day. THIS is the David I wish we were able to see more often.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a good one for my boy David.

I really enjoy a lot of the internal struggle here, of David both trying to sort through which parts of his feelings for Senna are real, and how he fits into the team as a whole - struggling with what he views as their lack of trust in him and getting them all to work as a cohesive unit. All of the boys get a chance to shine here, and I'm excited to continue my reread.

[Red&#x1f3f3;️‍⚧️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nearly a five star book, Applegate is never to be underestimated. Leveraging her talent for traumatized characters losing all grasp on reality to reveal essential truths about the character and humanity, this Everworld book goes hard. It has the juice. It a third cultural reference point that may or may not make sense to me if i see this review several years from now.

Anyway. Banger.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Husbands book I decided to read not really knowing it was book 5.
Good short read but wish I had read the others to make more sense of it. You can skip them but knowing how they ended up in Everworldwould have been nice

[Valia (beingshelfaware) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has been my favourite book in the series so far! There is growth from David that I'm really liking, since he was quite annoying at the start. And Everworld is just neverending which still makes it so mysterious! Also disliking Sienna so much, even more than the last book

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was pretty good, I liked how they worked together this time around and did what they had to do, in order to survive and to make amends with the dragon 🐉 with a neat ending. Can't wait to read the next book.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this one. It's got some real Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court vibes, the levity lightening up the despair that still hangs over the protagonists. So many creative and visceral descriptions of everything from a lively Fairy Market to insectoid aliens to days of miserable dysentery!

[Wetdryvac · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun fluff.

[Cate Boshoven · Rating 4 out of 5]

First book to make me laugh out loud in a long time.