Evermore by Sara Holland

*SPOILERS FOR EVERLESS*

Unfortunately, Evermore wasn't as enjoyable a read for me as the first book in the series, Everless, was. I had forgotten a lot of what happened in the first book, so that might have contributed to my dislike of Evermore.

Everless ended with the main character, Jules, realizing that she is the reincarnation of the lengendary Alchemist, and the girl she once thought of as a friend, Caro, is the reincarnation of the Sorceress. According to everyone, the evil Alchemist stole the Sorceress's heart, but Jules comes to find that it was in fact the Sorceress who was evil and has been repeatedly killing the reincarnations of the Alchemist. And Jules is next.

Jules escapes with Liam, and returns to the Alchemist's ancient home, where she learns more about the Alchemist in an effort to find a way to defeat Caro.

This book bothered me for several reasons. One, everything seemed to happen too quickly. It seemed like Jules and Liam went from Everless Manor to the Alchemist's home in the course of a page or two. Then, the rest of the action in the book also seemed to happen way too quickly.

Second, Jules begins to have flashbacks to her previous lives as other reincarnations of the Alchemist. She experiences her death at the hands of Caro over and over, and she also learns more about the original Alchemist and Sorceress. Each time this happened, Jules's character changed. By the end of the book, she no longer acted like the Jules that was introduced at the beginning of Everless. Instead, she was the Alchemist. I really liked Jules in Everless, but in Evermore, it often felt like I was reading about a completely different character.

Third, the romance between Jules and Liam seemed very strange and forced. Liam had some sort of obsession with the Alchemist before he even knew who Jules was, and I questioned the legitimacy of his feelings for her.

Fourth, I was really interested when I found out that Jules and Ina were twin sisters, and I really liked the subplot of Everless when Jules was trying to find out about the circumstances of her birth. But...Ina's relation to Jules didn't really have any bearing on the plot. Their interactions seemed like filler more than anything else.

One thing I did like, however, was the ending. It was so bittersweet, and, in my opinion, a great ending to the Alchemist and Sorceress story.

Evermore was a disappointment for me, but I still wouldn't discourage anyone who enjoyed Everless from reading. There were a few parts of Evermore that I did enjoy, and I did like the way the story wrapped up.