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The Skinjacker Trilogy #1-3
The Skinjacker Trilogy: Everlost / Everwild / Everfound
Not every child who dies goes on to the afterlife. Some are caught halfway between life and death, in a sort of limbo known as Everlost: a shadow of the living world, filled with all the things and places that no longer exist. It's a magical, yet dangerous place where bands of lost kids run wild and anyone who stands in the same place too long sinks to the center of the Earth.
Allie and Nick don't survive the car crash, and end up in Everlost, where coins are more valuable than anyone knows, fortune cookies tell the truth, monsters are real, and the queen of lost souls lives in a once-beloved tower. Nick and Allie have to learn to survive in a world with different rules, and figure out who they can trust - and who they must oppose at all costs. At stake is nothing less than the fate of Everlost and the living world they have left behind.
In this gripping trilogy, Neal Shusterman explores questions of life, death, and what just might lie in between.
Allie and Nick don't survive the car crash, and end up in Everlost, where coins are more valuable than anyone knows, fortune cookies tell the truth, monsters are real, and the queen of lost souls lives in a once-beloved tower. Nick and Allie have to learn to survive in a world with different rules, and figure out who they can trust - and who they must oppose at all costs. At stake is nothing less than the fate of Everlost and the living world they have left behind.
In this gripping trilogy, Neal Shusterman explores questions of life, death, and what just might lie in between.
1264 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 20, 2008
About the author
Neal Shusterman
86 books27.7k followersAward-winning author Neal Shusterman grew up in Brooklyn, New York, where he began writing at an early age. After spending his junior and senior years of high school at the American School of Mexico City, Neal went on to UC Irvine, where he made his mark on the UCI swim team, and wrote a successful humor column. Within a year of graduating, he had his first book deal, and was hired to write a movie script.
In the years since, Neal has made his mark as a successful novelist, screenwriter, and television writer. As a full-time writer, he claims to be his own hardest task-master, always at work creating new stories to tell. His books have received many awards from organizations such as the International Reading Association, and the American Library Association, as well as garnering a myriad of state and local awards across the country. Neal's talents range from film directing (two short films he directed won him the coveted CINE Golden Eagle Awards) to writing music and stage plays – including book and lyrical contributions to “American Twistory,” which is currently playing in Boston. He has even tried his hand at creating Games, having developed three successful "How to Host a Mystery" game for teens, as well as seven "How to Host a Murder" games.
As a screen and TV writer, Neal has written for the "Goosebumps" and “Animorphs” TV series, and wrote the Disney Channel Original Movie “Pixel Perfect”. Currently Neal is adapting his novel Everlost as a feature film for Universal Studios.
Wherever Neal goes, he quickly earns a reputation as a storyteller and dynamic speaker. Much of his fiction is traceable back to stories he tells to large audiences of children and teenagers -- such as his novel The Eyes of Kid Midas. As a speaker, Neal is in constant demand at schools and conferences. Degrees in both psychology and drama give Neal a unique approach to writing. Neal's novels always deal with topics that appeal to adults as well as teens, weaving true-to-life characters into sensitive and riveting issues, and binding it all together with a unique and entertaining sense of humor.
Of Everlost, School Library Journal wrote: “Shusterman has reimagined what happens after death and questions power and the meaning of charity. While all this is going on, he has also managed to write a rip-roaring adventure…”
Of What Daddy Did, Voice of Youth Advocates wrote; "This is a compelling, spell-binding story... A stunning novel, impossible to put down once begun.
Of The Schwa Was Here, School Library Journal wrote: “Shusterman's characters–reminiscent of those crafted by E. L. Konigsburg and Jerry Spinelli–are infused with the kind of controlled, precocious improbability that magically vivifies the finest children's classics.
Of Scorpion Shards, Publisher's Weekly wrote: "Shusterman takes an outlandish comic-book concept, and, through the sheer audacity and breadth of his imagination makes it stunningly believable. A spellbinder."
And of The Eyes of Kid Midas, The Midwest Book Review wrote "This wins our vote as one of the best young-adult titles of the year" and was called "Inspired and hypnotically readable" by School Library Journal.
Neal Shusterman lives in Southern California with his children Brendan, Jarrod, Joelle, and Erin, who are a constant source of inspiration!
In the years since, Neal has made his mark as a successful novelist, screenwriter, and television writer. As a full-time writer, he claims to be his own hardest task-master, always at work creating new stories to tell. His books have received many awards from organizations such as the International Reading Association, and the American Library Association, as well as garnering a myriad of state and local awards across the country. Neal's talents range from film directing (two short films he directed won him the coveted CINE Golden Eagle Awards) to writing music and stage plays – including book and lyrical contributions to “American Twistory,” which is currently playing in Boston. He has even tried his hand at creating Games, having developed three successful "How to Host a Mystery" game for teens, as well as seven "How to Host a Murder" games.
As a screen and TV writer, Neal has written for the "Goosebumps" and “Animorphs” TV series, and wrote the Disney Channel Original Movie “Pixel Perfect”. Currently Neal is adapting his novel Everlost as a feature film for Universal Studios.
Wherever Neal goes, he quickly earns a reputation as a storyteller and dynamic speaker. Much of his fiction is traceable back to stories he tells to large audiences of children and teenagers -- such as his novel The Eyes of Kid Midas. As a speaker, Neal is in constant demand at schools and conferences. Degrees in both psychology and drama give Neal a unique approach to writing. Neal's novels always deal with topics that appeal to adults as well as teens, weaving true-to-life characters into sensitive and riveting issues, and binding it all together with a unique and entertaining sense of humor.
Of Everlost, School Library Journal wrote: “Shusterman has reimagined what happens after death and questions power and the meaning of charity. While all this is going on, he has also managed to write a rip-roaring adventure…”
Of What Daddy Did, Voice of Youth Advocates wrote; "This is a compelling, spell-binding story... A stunning novel, impossible to put down once begun.
Of The Schwa Was Here, School Library Journal wrote: “Shusterman's characters–reminiscent of those crafted by E. L. Konigsburg and Jerry Spinelli–are infused with the kind of controlled, precocious improbability that magically vivifies the finest children's classics.
Of Scorpion Shards, Publisher's Weekly wrote: "Shusterman takes an outlandish comic-book concept, and, through the sheer audacity and breadth of his imagination makes it stunningly believable. A spellbinder."
And of The Eyes of Kid Midas, The Midwest Book Review wrote "This wins our vote as one of the best young-adult titles of the year" and was called "Inspired and hypnotically readable" by School Library Journal.
Neal Shusterman lives in Southern California with his children Brendan, Jarrod, Joelle, and Erin, who are a constant source of inspiration!
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January 23, 2019These three books feature ghosts – lots and lots of ghosts!
Now there is one big problem with ghosts. Sometimes they are not sufficiently threatening
to make for a real conflict. Yes, they can scare you to death but do not pose the danger offered by
zombies, werewolves or vampires. For that reason, in my own Spooks Series I use them sparingly.
Spooks talk to ghosts and send them to the light. Only one type of ghost offers a real threat and they are rarely found. These are ‘strangler ghosts’ who can exert enough pressure to kill.
However, there is one way to make ghosts more interesting and threatening. That is to tell
the story from the perspective of one or more of the ghosts. AJ Hartley does it brilliantly in his book
‘Cold Bath Street’ (which I have already reviewed here). The jacket blurb stares ‘Not even the dead
are safe …’ which sums up the situation succinctly.
Now I have read something that uses the same device, also to good effect. In ‘The Skinjacker
Trilogy’, Neal Shusterman shows us the world of the dead. These are souls who for some reason did
not go to the light. They end up in a zone called ‘Everlost’ where they struggle to survive, fight each
other and face danger from other denizens of this scary place including a monster. Some of them
also can ‘skinjack’ which means they can temporarily possess the body of someone who is still alive.
Perhaps what I like best about this book is that Neal Shusterman creates a fully-formed world of the dead with its own rules and quirks. Mary, ‘The Sky Witch’ has even written books about it stating the rules. Other ghosts read them hoping to gain enough knowledge to continue to exist. But is Mary to be trusted? Does she always tell the truth?
These are brilliant books. I enjoyed all three. I could say lots more but I don’t want to spoil
your enjoyment my revealing too much.
Now there is one big problem with ghosts. Sometimes they are not sufficiently threatening
to make for a real conflict. Yes, they can scare you to death but do not pose the danger offered by
zombies, werewolves or vampires. For that reason, in my own Spooks Series I use them sparingly.
Spooks talk to ghosts and send them to the light. Only one type of ghost offers a real threat and they are rarely found. These are ‘strangler ghosts’ who can exert enough pressure to kill.
However, there is one way to make ghosts more interesting and threatening. That is to tell
the story from the perspective of one or more of the ghosts. AJ Hartley does it brilliantly in his book
‘Cold Bath Street’ (which I have already reviewed here). The jacket blurb stares ‘Not even the dead
are safe …’ which sums up the situation succinctly.
Now I have read something that uses the same device, also to good effect. In ‘The Skinjacker
Trilogy’, Neal Shusterman shows us the world of the dead. These are souls who for some reason did
not go to the light. They end up in a zone called ‘Everlost’ where they struggle to survive, fight each
other and face danger from other denizens of this scary place including a monster. Some of them
also can ‘skinjack’ which means they can temporarily possess the body of someone who is still alive.
Perhaps what I like best about this book is that Neal Shusterman creates a fully-formed world of the dead with its own rules and quirks. Mary, ‘The Sky Witch’ has even written books about it stating the rules. Other ghosts read them hoping to gain enough knowledge to continue to exist. But is Mary to be trusted? Does she always tell the truth?
These are brilliant books. I enjoyed all three. I could say lots more but I don’t want to spoil
your enjoyment my revealing too much.
March 17, 2012
Neal Shusterman has just won over a new fan! I love this philosophical trilogy that is the most unique fantasy novel I have read. The setting is a place where children go after they die but for various reasons, don't reach "the light at the end of the tunnel". Instead they arrive in "Everlost" where they must determine their existance with weakening knowledge from their life before death and only faith of what their final destination might be - just as Wordsworth describes in his Ode from "Intimations of Immortality":
Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from afar:
Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God, who is our home:
Instead of coming from "God", the "Afterlights" arrive in Everlost after a nine month "sleep". When they awake, if they don't keep moving, they will sink into the earth, and if they don't make a continual effort to remember their name, families, and origin, they will forget it. Their weaknesses and strengths come with them and will become weaker or stronger depending on their choices. The small and sometimes big choices the children make in a world without adults and a strong central leadership determine if they live an existence of good, evil, or mindless habit.
The trilogy follows various connected characters who are all strong leaders, but use their leadership skills and talents for various purposes. Each character demonstrates the importance of motive, pride, humility, love, justification, and ambition in determining who we become.
Some great quotes about:
Ruts and Routine:
Book 1 p 135 “There are mysteries in Everlost. Some of them are wonderful, and others are scary. They should all be explored, though – perhaps that’s why we’re here; to experience the good and the bad that Everlost has to offer. I really don’t know why we didn’t get where we were going, but I do know this much; being trapped doing the same thing over and over again for all time is no way to spend eternity – and anyone who tells you so is wrong.”
The Power of Belief:
book 3 p 261 "The power of belief is a very real thing in Everlost. The way one looks, physical strength, is all determined by what an Afterlight believes – and no one can truly control what they believe. We can lie to ourselves, saying we believe one thing and sometimes we convince others it’s true, with the hope that by convincing others, we can convince ourselves. Wars are often waged not because of what we believe, but because of the things we want others to believe."
Temptation
Book 3 p 299 "Temptation. It was a tricky thing to grapple with, for it was hard to sort out one’s own personal motives."
Love
Book 3 p325 "Love, Allie concluded, wasn’t blind, it simply saw alternate dimensions."
P 483 “I’ve loved you for a very long time in spite of all the bad stuff that’ happened between us . . . I’ll tell you why, then. Because you let me see who you could be. Not who you were, not who you became, but who you might become. Which means the Mary I love, in a way, hasn’t even been born yet. But she could be now.”
Justification
Book 3 P 340 "How easy is murder when one calls it by a different name? How much easier is it for the conscience to condone “reaping” than “killing” – and when one knows that death isn’t the end, does it stop the killing hand for fear of retribution, or does it simply make it easier to kill, because, if life continues, how can murder be murder at all?
“Kill them all, for the Lord knoweth them that are His.” That was the creed of the medieval crusaders, cutting down everyone in their path, the good and the bad, content in the knowledge that God would sort them out in the hereafter. They believed themselves holy warriors, bringing glory and reward with every bloody slash of their swords."
Destiny
Book 3 P 431 “Destiny is the sum of the choices that God knows we’ll make.”
For once, Allie the Outcast doesn’t disagree, but she adds, “Not even Einstein can do that kind of math.”
Humility
book 3 P 491 "It was in her [Mary] heart to help and protect everyone who came to Everlost, but she couldn’t separate herself from her calling. Once it became all about her, it got sick and twisted until it destroyed her and almost destroyed the world.”
. . . Allie had always been an ambitious girl, but that awful experience [how helpless she felt inside the coyote] had taught her that there were more forces at work in a balanced world than her own willpower; there was nature, there was wisdom, there was knowledge and understanding. Without life’s humbling experiences, Allie could have been just like Mary Hightower."
Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from afar:
Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God, who is our home:
Instead of coming from "God", the "Afterlights" arrive in Everlost after a nine month "sleep". When they awake, if they don't keep moving, they will sink into the earth, and if they don't make a continual effort to remember their name, families, and origin, they will forget it. Their weaknesses and strengths come with them and will become weaker or stronger depending on their choices. The small and sometimes big choices the children make in a world without adults and a strong central leadership determine if they live an existence of good, evil, or mindless habit.
The trilogy follows various connected characters who are all strong leaders, but use their leadership skills and talents for various purposes. Each character demonstrates the importance of motive, pride, humility, love, justification, and ambition in determining who we become.
Some great quotes about:
Ruts and Routine:
Book 1 p 135 “There are mysteries in Everlost. Some of them are wonderful, and others are scary. They should all be explored, though – perhaps that’s why we’re here; to experience the good and the bad that Everlost has to offer. I really don’t know why we didn’t get where we were going, but I do know this much; being trapped doing the same thing over and over again for all time is no way to spend eternity – and anyone who tells you so is wrong.”
The Power of Belief:
book 3 p 261 "The power of belief is a very real thing in Everlost. The way one looks, physical strength, is all determined by what an Afterlight believes – and no one can truly control what they believe. We can lie to ourselves, saying we believe one thing and sometimes we convince others it’s true, with the hope that by convincing others, we can convince ourselves. Wars are often waged not because of what we believe, but because of the things we want others to believe."
Temptation
Book 3 p 299 "Temptation. It was a tricky thing to grapple with, for it was hard to sort out one’s own personal motives."
Love
Book 3 p325 "Love, Allie concluded, wasn’t blind, it simply saw alternate dimensions."
P 483 “I’ve loved you for a very long time in spite of all the bad stuff that’ happened between us . . . I’ll tell you why, then. Because you let me see who you could be. Not who you were, not who you became, but who you might become. Which means the Mary I love, in a way, hasn’t even been born yet. But she could be now.”
Justification
Book 3 P 340 "How easy is murder when one calls it by a different name? How much easier is it for the conscience to condone “reaping” than “killing” – and when one knows that death isn’t the end, does it stop the killing hand for fear of retribution, or does it simply make it easier to kill, because, if life continues, how can murder be murder at all?
“Kill them all, for the Lord knoweth them that are His.” That was the creed of the medieval crusaders, cutting down everyone in their path, the good and the bad, content in the knowledge that God would sort them out in the hereafter. They believed themselves holy warriors, bringing glory and reward with every bloody slash of their swords."
Destiny
Book 3 P 431 “Destiny is the sum of the choices that God knows we’ll make.”
For once, Allie the Outcast doesn’t disagree, but she adds, “Not even Einstein can do that kind of math.”
Humility
book 3 P 491 "It was in her [Mary] heart to help and protect everyone who came to Everlost, but she couldn’t separate herself from her calling. Once it became all about her, it got sick and twisted until it destroyed her and almost destroyed the world.”
. . . Allie had always been an ambitious girl, but that awful experience [how helpless she felt inside the coyote] had taught her that there were more forces at work in a balanced world than her own willpower; there was nature, there was wisdom, there was knowledge and understanding. Without life’s humbling experiences, Allie could have been just like Mary Hightower."
May 6, 2012
This series is probably the best series out there right now, along with the Gone series by Michael Grant. It feels complete after you turn the last page, but still leaves you longing for more. I believe a good series should be able to do that. The writing is beautiful and flowing, easy to read, and sprinkled with large-enough words throughout. It is one of the most 'epic' feeling series too, as they travel from (dead)NYC to Memphis, San Antonio, and the Trinity site. I love the premise too. Dead people, that are not-so-dead, and haven't made it into the light. Sinking into the center of the Earth. The many different powers a spirit can weild. I also enjoyed the believeable villan. Mary is a smart, calculating, and messed-up individual who thinks she's doing what she is for the greater good. Even though the characters are all teens, they feel older beyond their years, which is true in Everlost, but the characters are what really made this trilogy come to life. Keep it up Neal Shusterman, and I look foward to finishing the Unwind series. ;)
February 27, 2012
Read this book or the Chocolate Ogre will get you! :)
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April 20, 2012
Just finished Everfound.
I can't even... I can't even write a proper review right now. I still don't know how I feel about the end.
What I do know is that this series will have a special place in my heart. That's how good it was. Seriously, these books are amazing.
Neal Shusterman is officially one of the best writers EVER.
I can't even... I can't even write a proper review right now. I still don't know how I feel about the end.
What I do know is that this series will have a special place in my heart. That's how good it was. Seriously, these books are amazing.
Neal Shusterman is officially one of the best writers EVER.
March 17, 2023
Wanted to reread this since middle school purely to find out what happens and it was dumb. Solid book for middle schoolers I'm sure but I am in fact 23.
April 23, 2013
Woah. That was awesome. Nick and Allie are both in cars and accidentally crash into each other.
They see this tunnel with a light at the end of it, but don't go in. And then, they wake up in a forest and find out its been nine months. And then, they find out if they step on land, they will sink to the center of the Earth.
The characters were very interesting. I like the different viewpoints. I could relate with the characters.
The setting was well written, as was the dialogue.
The plots of all the books seemed reasonable.
I was a little confused and bored throughout the novels, but otherwise, the series was great.
They see this tunnel with a light at the end of it, but don't go in. And then, they wake up in a forest and find out its been nine months. And then, they find out if they step on land, they will sink to the center of the Earth.
The characters were very interesting. I like the different viewpoints. I could relate with the characters.
The setting was well written, as was the dialogue.
The plots of all the books seemed reasonable.
I was a little confused and bored throughout the novels, but otherwise, the series was great.
August 5, 2019
First two books are fantastic. Great worldbuilding and realistic characters. No major character is two-dimensional. Third book is good too but the ending is not great and some of the things that happen are kind of silly.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Want to read
December 1, 2018:O On Kindle for 4.99 (12/1/2018), all three books! What a deal!
But knowing me, I'll probably by them in print as well, especially because Shusterman is one of my favorite authors :D
But knowing me, I'll probably by them in print as well, especially because Shusterman is one of my favorite authors :D
May 11, 2018
As fun as I remembered
I bought this, having read the trilogy once before, more than ten years ago. It still holds up and is yet another awesome series of books by one of my favorite authors.
I bought this, having read the trilogy once before, more than ten years ago. It still holds up and is yet another awesome series of books by one of my favorite authors.
January 24, 2014
i thought this book was pretty good some parts can be slow but over all this book story was pretty awesome!!!!! who doesnt like stories about dead kids trying to find their way home?!
May 15, 2021
The Skinjacker Trilogy is one of Schusterman’s series that I read years and years ago and remember nothing about. Honestly, I think I only ever read the first book. But I’m glad that I reread it and finished the trilogy. I’m going to review the whole trilogy in this one long post because I read them all back-to-back, so I’d rather just talk about it all overall. I managed to reread this whole trilogy over Mother’s Day weekend because it was super interesting and I just needed to know how everything ended. I made notes for each book, so I’ll briefly mention them before I talk about the series as a whole. The first book, Everlost, was interesting mostly because of the concept of this in-between place for lost souls. I liked the characters well enough, but I thought the plot was lacking. It felt like the first book was just world building and set up for the rest of the series. The second book, Everwild, is where things started to get really interesting plot wise. The story moves slowly, but it’s very clear that Shusterman placed building blocks, little bits and pieces, that would come back into the story later. This goes for the third book, Everfound, too. Some of the things we see and learn about in books one and two come back into play for book three. I loved this aspect where we get to see things come full circle. Everwild is where we really see the characters grow and we see what they’re made of. Oh boy, does Schusterman make his characters suffer in this series. I still loved them all though.
There were a few different romances in this series, I liked all but one of them. I just couldn’t get behind Nick and Mary as romantic interests for one another. I think this was really the only thing I didn’t like about the series. It was there through all three books and I just didn’t find it believable. I did, however, really like Allie and Mikey together, as well as the other couples we see get together. I also want to mention the historical sites that are mentioned and some that play a part in this story. In Everlost, we see the Twin Towers, the Hindenburg airship, In Everwild the characters leave the East Coast and move west across the United States. We get to see the World’s Fair in Chicago and Graceland. The final book we get to see the Alamo and the Trinity Vortex (the site of the first atomic bomb). I think the way that Shusterman included these bits and pieces of history was fascinating and thoughtful. I just overall had a fun time reading this series. It was silly and occasionally ridiculous, but it was also way more serious than I anticipated. There were some really dark plotlines that I was not expecting, but then there were things like Nick being named the ‘chocolate ogre’ so the serious and sometimes dark parts of the story were balanced with a bit of silliness and I liked that.
There were a few different romances in this series, I liked all but one of them. I just couldn’t get behind Nick and Mary as romantic interests for one another. I think this was really the only thing I didn’t like about the series. It was there through all three books and I just didn’t find it believable. I did, however, really like Allie and Mikey together, as well as the other couples we see get together. I also want to mention the historical sites that are mentioned and some that play a part in this story. In Everlost, we see the Twin Towers, the Hindenburg airship, In Everwild the characters leave the East Coast and move west across the United States. We get to see the World’s Fair in Chicago and Graceland. The final book we get to see the Alamo and the Trinity Vortex (the site of the first atomic bomb). I think the way that Shusterman included these bits and pieces of history was fascinating and thoughtful. I just overall had a fun time reading this series. It was silly and occasionally ridiculous, but it was also way more serious than I anticipated. There were some really dark plotlines that I was not expecting, but then there were things like Nick being named the ‘chocolate ogre’ so the serious and sometimes dark parts of the story were balanced with a bit of silliness and I liked that.
July 4, 2019
The beginning of the first book, I thought I may not continue reading, because I was worried it was too juvenile for me. I pushed forward, mostly because the fantastic reviews this trilogy receives.
I was not disappointed.
The world created is imaginative, unique, and fun to escape to. The characters develop wonderfully, something I always look for. I was most impressed at how well “Mary Hightower” develops into one of the best villains, because of how much hate you have her.
I would’ve liked to hear more about Jix & Jill, they were my favourite couple from the whole series, and it is fun to start to like a character that originally you didn’t understand (Jill). Lief was originally my favourite character, and I was sad he was done by the end of the first book.
I also would’ve liked to see Allie get to say ‘I told you so’ and then some to that darn Milos. You’re yearning through the whole book to have Allie or Nick at least praised for their strong moral compass but there wasn’t much of that satisfaction in the end, which is my only disappointment.
I thought maybe our characters were going to make it to Hollywood at some point, and it would’ve been fun to have some famous celebrity skinjacking going on.
I would read a spin-off novel about what happens to Jix & Jill’s little love story :)
I was not disappointed.
The world created is imaginative, unique, and fun to escape to. The characters develop wonderfully, something I always look for. I was most impressed at how well “Mary Hightower” develops into one of the best villains, because of how much hate you have her.
I would’ve liked to hear more about Jix & Jill, they were my favourite couple from the whole series, and it is fun to start to like a character that originally you didn’t understand (Jill). Lief was originally my favourite character, and I was sad he was done by the end of the first book.
I also would’ve liked to see Allie get to say ‘I told you so’ and then some to that darn Milos. You’re yearning through the whole book to have Allie or Nick at least praised for their strong moral compass but there wasn’t much of that satisfaction in the end, which is my only disappointment.
I thought maybe our characters were going to make it to Hollywood at some point, and it would’ve been fun to have some famous celebrity skinjacking going on.
I would read a spin-off novel about what happens to Jix & Jill’s little love story :)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 20, 2024
These books bring such an interesting perspective on the concept of the afterlife, especially since every character is a kid. Adults tend to have rigid thoughts on what the afterlife has for them, but for kids, the possibilities are endless. And it really hits on how many different theories there are for what comes next and how they don't have to be at odds with each other. People can and do have different thoughts and no one is necessarily right or wrong. It's also kinda wild, but I dislike basically every character. Not that they're poorly written or anything, I just don't think I would like them as people if they were real. But they are very well written and all do things that make sense for them, they're just all personalities that I don't vibe with
October 15, 2018
If you are looking for a fanciful, rollicking look at what happens after children die but don't make it to their final destination (the light), this is the series for you. Imaginative and well written you will encounter that area between life and the light (Everlost) where Afterlights "live" until it's time for them to move on to their final destination. Our heroes and heroines engage in a fight with Mary Hightower and her move to destroy the entire living population of the world and move them into her version of paradise, Everlost, where she can provide them with a perfect existence.
July 27, 2022
Such a good series!!! My oldest son recommended them to me. The premise is pretty dark but if you can get past that you won't regret it. I started listening to these on audible but the narrator was too good and made it too "real." I almost gave up but I finished by just reading them on kindle and I couldn't put it down. The premise and story line is so unique and imaginative and wonderfully done. I can't say enough good things about it.
I would not recommend this to sensitive readers as it does have some overly descriptive death scenes.
I would not recommend this to sensitive readers as it does have some overly descriptive death scenes.
January 23, 2024
What a wonderful series! Some of the best world-building I have ever read! I am so sad that there are not more stories about Everlost. The characters are also well-written. I was in love with some characters while absolutely DESPISING some others (especially one character >:( you’ll find out once you read it). The only reason I did not give it a five-star rating was that the ending of the series felt a bit rushed. It did not quite fit into the pace of the rest of the series. But by no means does that mean that others should not read these books!
October 22, 2018
Despite the series name being faintly reminiscent of a lost "Saw" director's cut, I found this to be an intriguing, well-built series with interesting characters and a motivating plot. No spoilers, but this is one of the few young-adult series I've found that neither pander to the lowest soap-opera denominator nor milk the publishing contract for all its worth by ending exclusively on bad cliffhangers.
April 6, 2021
Wonderful plot threads, a loveable main, humorous observations, and of course me wondering why milos thought keeping a secret from ali would protect her. I haven’t the foggiest but i was totally floored by her discovery and i find myself lapsing into musings about how certain events would transpire in everlost, the mark of top notch magic systems and world building. I never played the floor is lava as a child, but I’ve definitely played the floor is not a deadspot as an adult.
January 18, 2015
(FROM MY BLOG): Allie and Nick are 14-year-old passengers in two cars that hit head-on. They find themselves flying through a tunnel toward a bright light. Their "bodies" collide, and they wake up in a forest. Welcome, kids, to the world of Everlost.
When I blundered onto the Hunger Games trilogy last winter, my interest was re-awakened (moderately) in the young adult fantasy genre. As an indirect result, this past week I finished reading the Everlost trilogy -- Everlost, Everwild, and Everfound, known more formally as the Skinjacker trilogy -- by author Neal Shusterman.
Everlost is a shadow world that overlies our own. It's occupied only by children and teenagers, kids who for one reason or another didn't "get where they were going." Adults apparently have better defined personas, and always "get where they're going" -- i.e., when they die, they always arrive at that bright light, whatever that bright light may portend for them.
Everlost has complex rules, as we learn together with Allie and Nick as the story progresses. "Afterlights," as Everlost's inhabitants are known, can see what the living are doing, in a somewhat shadowy way, but the living can't see them. Afterlights can feel objects -- like freeway traffic -- as those objects pass through them. The sensation is a bit uncomfortable, but doesn't hurt. Afterlights are beyond being hurt.
Allie is part of a small minority of Afterlights who can interact physically with the living world by entering the body of living humans or animals. She "skinjacks" them. (Old fashioned folks would say she "possesses" them.) She can do so because, unlike Nick, she wasn't actually killed in the accident. "Skinjackers" have bodies that either lie in a deep coma or are kept alive in hospitals in a vegetative state. They exist in both worlds. Until Allie's body dies, she can skinjack.
Afterlights have to keep moving, or find "dead spots" on which to stand, or gravity gradually sucks them into the earth. Once beneath the surface, they fall deeper and deeper, ultimately to the molten core where they'll remain as long as the earth remains intact. This sounds horrible, but the Afterlights in the core, like the great majority on the surface of Everlost, find increasing delight in finding one simple but interesting activity and repeating it day after day. One Afterlight in the core taught many of his neighbors to begin singing "One Trillion Bottles of Beer on the Wall," a song calculated to keep them amused for some years. (This is juvenile fiction, don't forget!)
Although the great majority of Afterlights grow increasingly passive as time passes in Everlost, some preserve the ambitions and passions of their earthly lives, and by force of personality contribute to great dramas that sweep Everlost. Allie and Nick both have their critical parts to play in these dramas -- dramas that, because of the ability of skinjackers to interact with the living world, have potentially huge consequences for the lives of both the living and the dead.
Of course, most of those who die never see Everlost. They fly down the tunnel to the light the instant their life on earth ends. Almost all Afterlights feel somewhat stranded in Everlost, and look forward to reaching the light. But Afterlights have no better idea than we do what they'll find, once they're there. Afterlights wonder if the light is really Heaven of some sort, as they hope. What if the light they remember seeing at the end of the tunnel is a world of eternal hellish fire? What if both living and dead are ruled over by malignant deities? Is there a deity? Or are both Earth and Everlost parts of the fabric of an uncaring universe, a universe governed impersonally by implacable natural laws?
Shusterman tells us a lot about life and about Everlost. But even the author doesn't know what awaits us all at the end of the tunnel. Afterlights sooner or later "get to where they are going," but no one knows exactly what that means. Shusterman's only hint is the observation that each Afterlight, just before entering the tunnel on his way to the light, suddenly remembers everything about his earthly life that he's forgotten, and that he's observed by others to have a look of peace and delight on his face. An instant later, before reaching the light, he vanishes from sight in Everlost.
These are highly imaginative books. They touch on serious philosophical issues. They describe the passive world of most Afterlights -- memories of whose pasts are failing, each absorbed in his or her own thoughts and repetitive activities -- in a way that calls to mind a vast nursing home. But a nursing home where the falling away of ambition and curiosity brings a strange peace and happiness, and may in fact be part of the preparation for an early voyage to the light.
The books are imaginative and philosophical and moving, but they are also full of adventure, of monstrous beings, of reflections on our own society, and of at times rather funny dialogue. In the third book, especially, Shusterman's writing sometimes calls to mind the ironic and outrageous humor of Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
What can I say? It's "kid's lit," but I loved it. Sometimes, youth really is wasted on the young. You don't have to be a teenager to enjoy the Everlost trilogy.
When I blundered onto the Hunger Games trilogy last winter, my interest was re-awakened (moderately) in the young adult fantasy genre. As an indirect result, this past week I finished reading the Everlost trilogy -- Everlost, Everwild, and Everfound, known more formally as the Skinjacker trilogy -- by author Neal Shusterman.
Everlost is a shadow world that overlies our own. It's occupied only by children and teenagers, kids who for one reason or another didn't "get where they were going." Adults apparently have better defined personas, and always "get where they're going" -- i.e., when they die, they always arrive at that bright light, whatever that bright light may portend for them.
Everlost has complex rules, as we learn together with Allie and Nick as the story progresses. "Afterlights," as Everlost's inhabitants are known, can see what the living are doing, in a somewhat shadowy way, but the living can't see them. Afterlights can feel objects -- like freeway traffic -- as those objects pass through them. The sensation is a bit uncomfortable, but doesn't hurt. Afterlights are beyond being hurt.
Allie is part of a small minority of Afterlights who can interact physically with the living world by entering the body of living humans or animals. She "skinjacks" them. (Old fashioned folks would say she "possesses" them.) She can do so because, unlike Nick, she wasn't actually killed in the accident. "Skinjackers" have bodies that either lie in a deep coma or are kept alive in hospitals in a vegetative state. They exist in both worlds. Until Allie's body dies, she can skinjack.
Afterlights have to keep moving, or find "dead spots" on which to stand, or gravity gradually sucks them into the earth. Once beneath the surface, they fall deeper and deeper, ultimately to the molten core where they'll remain as long as the earth remains intact. This sounds horrible, but the Afterlights in the core, like the great majority on the surface of Everlost, find increasing delight in finding one simple but interesting activity and repeating it day after day. One Afterlight in the core taught many of his neighbors to begin singing "One Trillion Bottles of Beer on the Wall," a song calculated to keep them amused for some years. (This is juvenile fiction, don't forget!)
Although the great majority of Afterlights grow increasingly passive as time passes in Everlost, some preserve the ambitions and passions of their earthly lives, and by force of personality contribute to great dramas that sweep Everlost. Allie and Nick both have their critical parts to play in these dramas -- dramas that, because of the ability of skinjackers to interact with the living world, have potentially huge consequences for the lives of both the living and the dead.
Of course, most of those who die never see Everlost. They fly down the tunnel to the light the instant their life on earth ends. Almost all Afterlights feel somewhat stranded in Everlost, and look forward to reaching the light. But Afterlights have no better idea than we do what they'll find, once they're there. Afterlights wonder if the light is really Heaven of some sort, as they hope. What if the light they remember seeing at the end of the tunnel is a world of eternal hellish fire? What if both living and dead are ruled over by malignant deities? Is there a deity? Or are both Earth and Everlost parts of the fabric of an uncaring universe, a universe governed impersonally by implacable natural laws?
Shusterman tells us a lot about life and about Everlost. But even the author doesn't know what awaits us all at the end of the tunnel. Afterlights sooner or later "get to where they are going," but no one knows exactly what that means. Shusterman's only hint is the observation that each Afterlight, just before entering the tunnel on his way to the light, suddenly remembers everything about his earthly life that he's forgotten, and that he's observed by others to have a look of peace and delight on his face. An instant later, before reaching the light, he vanishes from sight in Everlost.
These are highly imaginative books. They touch on serious philosophical issues. They describe the passive world of most Afterlights -- memories of whose pasts are failing, each absorbed in his or her own thoughts and repetitive activities -- in a way that calls to mind a vast nursing home. But a nursing home where the falling away of ambition and curiosity brings a strange peace and happiness, and may in fact be part of the preparation for an early voyage to the light.
The books are imaginative and philosophical and moving, but they are also full of adventure, of monstrous beings, of reflections on our own society, and of at times rather funny dialogue. In the third book, especially, Shusterman's writing sometimes calls to mind the ironic and outrageous humor of Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
What can I say? It's "kid's lit," but I loved it. Sometimes, youth really is wasted on the young. You don't have to be a teenager to enjoy the Everlost trilogy.
October 20, 2017
Great YA read. Poses potentially difficult questions, if you want to address them...or just cruise through a great story. It has strong female characters of all ilks. These female characters are mixed right in with the male characters...so it's not a "boy" series or a "girl" series. I think any 8th grader or above would enjoy this series...it's not dumbed down. There are even breadcrumbs for parents to use to initiate conversations, conversations that have nothing to do with the series/story. Such as the chapter titled "Then Along Comes Mary..." which kids probably don't know was a sixties song.
November 22, 2018
One of the best YA books I’ve read this year! It is a unique concept about two kids who die in a car accident and end up in an in between world called “Everlost.” Everyone wonders about what happens when we die, and this novel explores that possibility adding some adventure, plot twists, and a great lead-in to the sequel.
January 21, 2020
This was my favorite book series in middle school, and I've found myself rereading it several times since. It's a smart young adult series, that felt different, and smarter than other ghost stories I've read. I wish I had to words to leave it a worthy review, I recommend this book to everyone, regardless of their preferred reading genre.
June 21, 2018
I LOVE NEAL SHUSTERMAN!!! Seriously this guy can really spin a tale! I thought these books were fantastic! The third one was a little slow in the middle but still fascinating. The act of children being stuck between life and death is so odd but well thought out. I loved the concept of skinjacking and really just the whole concept of the book. There were a few things I was left puzzled about, but the best books don’t always answer every question!!
October 12, 2018
Pretty good
This trilogy was decent, at best. The story really could have been done in two books. I was rooting for it to end as I started the third book. Big fan of the author, but this isn’t his best.
Oh well.
This trilogy was decent, at best. The story really could have been done in two books. I was rooting for it to end as I started the third book. Big fan of the author, but this isn’t his best.
Oh well.
April 15, 2020
Interesting trilogy about a world between life and the hereafter, inhabited by young people who don't quite make it to the pearly gates. In particular a girl who wants to populate this in-between by removing all the life from the world.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 25, 2020
SCREAMING PLEASE. READ. This is a beautiful trilogy and I loved every second of it.
Loved the characters and the antagonist was great. There is a constant feeling of bitterness and emptiness throughout, which is very addicting. Life, death, and the in-between!!
Loved the characters and the antagonist was great. There is a constant feeling of bitterness and emptiness throughout, which is very addicting. Life, death, and the in-between!!
December 2, 2021
Shusterman always finds a new angle for death; this series is about the afterlife. Still with the battle between good vs evil. And what an imagination! My favorite character was the Chocolate Ogre. I thoroughly enjoyed this.
February 24, 2024
I loved this book series! Just finished it TODAY and just loved it! So interesting and occupied so much space in my mind. It was cute and suspenseful and basically every other emotion. I love all of Neal Shustermans books and his creativity. I would definitely recommend!
July 26, 2017
Superb Audio Book - #3 in a great series.
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