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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UPR chapter.

Another book club has come and gone! March 28th was a great day to escape from our new trimester routine to take a breather and talk about something we absolutely love: books. This time around we got to chat with Sara Holland, the author of the fast-paced and thrilling Everless.

Very well-promoted by Epic Reads, Everless is a Young Adult fantasy book making it the first installment of a duology series as well as the debut novel for Sara. Before we get into the book, we’d love to express how much of a sweetheart Sara Holland is! She was all smiles, kind words, and gratitude. She grew up in Minnesota and eventually moved on over to New York City to get into publishing. 

Everless is the story of Jules Ember as she navigates her life in the world of Sempera. It’s not exactly a coming-of-age story, but we do see our young heroine growing as the pages pass. In this world, time is money literally extracted from your blood and turned into coins as explained in the book trailer added above! As the plot thickens, Jules finds that she has entered a dangerous world she is not really prepared for. In the end, the reader is faced with shocking revelations and a world that seems to have more to it than meets the eye.

Sara seemed to be as happy as we were to have the chat. It’s always very surreal meeting an author through Skype, and it seemed she felt that way too as she admitted this was her first book club of this nature. The questions varied from who was her favorite character, her inspiration for most of them and why she wanted to tell that story. One of the readers present thanked her for helping her realize how important time is with those you love, and this made her very happy! She shared one of her favorite memories when someone pointed out that Jules held onto childhood memories dearly and asked her what was her favorite childhood memory. There was also a promise that Liam would be very important in the next installment which will, unfortunately, be the finale. As well, it was stated that Liam is a fanboy of the alchemist, and this had us ecstatic! Finally, a book she recommended for us to read was The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton which we already added to our TBR.

All in all, it was a very nice, relaxing chat. For now, the sequel is set to be released in 2019, and Holland hopes it’ll be released around January!

 

 

“Liam was my driving force reading this book because I knew there was more to him than meets the eye, and I was right! The book is pretty fast-paced in terms of plot because the presentation of the world and characters is very gradual; it doesn’t dwell too long on who someone is or where something or a place is. However, at times I did feel like information was being given to the reader too quickly and all at once. The idea is a great one, and I’m honestly expecting the finale to be even better. If you like Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard and Hunted by Meagan Spooner, you’ll like this one!”

—Josie

“I’m a big fantasy fan, so when this book was announced it quickly caught my attention. It reminded me a lot of the movie In Time, and I was curious to see how it would all play out. I really enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I was quickly submerged in the plot with a million questions rolling around in my brain. What is up with the Gerlings? What is Everless’ true purpose? Why is the Queen of Sempera always acting so strangely? The writing was very fast-paced and descriptive, a perk that I personally enjoy. While I do think the characters could have been better, some really stood out to me like Ina Gold, Liam Gerling, and Caro. They were fascinating to me from the beginning. Like mentioned before, this book is very reminiscent of Victoria Aveyard’s Red Queen, which is one of my favorite series, and maybe that is one of the reasons why I loved it so much. Another prop I will give Sara Holland is the fact that I was not able to guess most of the plot twists in this book, and I’m normally really good at figuring it out! I personally enjoyed it a lot, and it’s just a really good fantasy read!”

—Gabriela

“I love going into books blindly. This time the only thing I knew about the book is that there was something about time being a currency or something like that. I loved the cover, so I was ready to dive in. I’ve got to say, the hook is pretty predictable, and the narration could be better, but it’s Sara Holland’s debut novel, so we can cut her some slack there. My biggest pet peeve about the book is the characters. I feel that they’re pretty one dimensional, so I never really got invested in them. I didn’t really care if they died or not, but the plot is really good. I loved the concept and the world is pretty well-developed as well.”

—Luna

 

 

The next one will be held on April 25th, and it is Heart of Iron by Ashley Poston, author of the absolutely wonderful and adorable Geekerella!

Heart of Iron is a sci-fi Young Adult retelling of the Anastasia tale. For more on Sara Holland, you can check out her page, and for more news on the next book club, check out The Bookmark’s Twitter.

 

Image Credits: 1 & 2!

Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Josie is a senior in the UPR-Río Piedras campus, majoring in English Literature. When she's not on campus, you can find her browsing a bookstore (as if her TBR pile isn't big enough already!). Books and writing are what drives this girl--apart from fighting to destigmatize mental illnesses and raising awareness about the importance of consent. Josie enjoys traveling, bingeing on spicy food and a lot of sweets, blasting Bieber, and adding shows or movies to her Netflix queue that she'll never get to. Josie is a junior editor for the Rio Piedras chapter in Puerto Rico. If you want to see what else Josie is up to, you can catch her on her bookstagram.
Gabriela is currently an English Major at the University of Puerto Rico. When she isn't reading fantasy books, she can be found writing them. She is a Vegetarian Hufflepuff that loves zombie fiction, an irony in itself. An aspiring filmmaker, she one day dreams of winning an Oscar for her films.
Antoinette Luna is a Performance Studies and Comparative Literature major at the UPR. Her passions include writing, reading, and anything crafty. She loves to sew, write, and make things from scratch. DIY is the name of her game. Around campus, she is known as a bubbly young woman who goes by just Luna. Her future goals include traveling, traveling, and more traveling. Outspoken transfeminist, and wannabe activist, she's out to set fires.
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