Most of the books I read are either mysteries or historical (or both!), so when this YA fantasy caught my eye it was because I wanted to read something different. The cover attracted me at first - a fairy tale castle set inside an hour glass - and the premise (a world where time really is money) intrigued me.

Many centuries ago, the people of Sempera learned to turn their blood into 'blood iron' coins that can be dissolved and drunk to extend life. Now the poor work and pawn their valuables for blood iron, and die young, and the rich live forever. And the reclusive Queen, a kind of sinister Countess Bathory figure, rules over them all.

Living a hand-to-mouth existence, and worried about her elderly father, Jules has the opportunity to return to the Queen's castle and work in the kitchens, but her father's last words to her are to warn her to keep away from the Queen: 'Don't let her near you. Don't let her see you. She'll know you. It's not safe.' What secret has he been hiding from her all these years?

I absolutely loved Everless and was completely gripped by Jules's story as she slowly uncovers the mystery in her past and the truth about her family. I can't tell you much, without revealing spoilers, but there is a little bit of a romance and lots of twists - don't be fooled into thinking you know where this story is going! The only negatives were that I felt the male characters could have been developed a little bit more, and I had trouble getting my head around Sempera's legend of the Sorceress and the Alchemist. But I really enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to reading the next one in the series.


I was lucky enough to receive an advance copy of Everless, which will be published on the 4th January 2018.


Thank you to Sara Holland, Orchard Books, and Netgalley for my copy of this book, which I received in exchange for an honest review.

I've never heard of a book with a plot like this one and so it really intrigued me. The idea of blood/time being used as currency and that it can also make you live for longer? Definitely an original and interesting concept for me. It drew me in quickly and had me hooked.

I loved the ideas in this book, and it had twists and turns that I didn't see coming. Usually, I can guess where the plotline will go, but in the rare cases where I don't I always find I love the books even more, just like this book.

There was just the right amount of romacne in this book without making it all about love, which is good to see, but I hope to see a little more in the next book and hope it will become more of a plot-line.

The ending blew me away and had me gasping, something I don't do often with a book. I already want to know what will happen in book 2 even though this book hasn't come out yet! The ending really made me re-evaluate the conclusions I'd come to about certain characters, and that is what made me love the book so much.

While I feel like something was missing, I could not put this book down. Part fantasy, part romance, part mystery, the story is set in a world, where time/life becomes a currency. This concept is explained via a legend where the combined skills of a sorceress and an alchemist reshape life on earth.

Desperate to prolong her fathers life, Jules takes a well-paying job at the palace - a place that destroyed her life and also where her father has begged her not to return. Jules insists on taking the most dangerous and stupid course of action, over and over again, which is a bit frustrating.

We also have the love interest Roan, his evil brother Liam, the mysterious Queen, her adopted daughter and the Queens maid. All the characters feel a bit one-dimensional and even Jules, while we get a fuller picture of her past, has only anger and rage at her disposal.

And yet, I was intrigued by the legend, searching for hints that I felt were being dropped and trying to solve the mystery. The author maintains the suspense well and builds an interesting fantasy world. So despite its flaws, I would recommend this book and even a few weeks after reading, I still have it in my head. That says something in itself!

This gripped me from the moment I started to read the first page.
It's very well written and I love the fact that just when you think everything is predictable the whole thing is turned on it's head.
Definitely suitable for readers who want a strong female lead and adventure with a hint of romance.

"I have a sense the whole world is coming to an end, collapsing into that single moment"

* * *
3 / 5

Everless is about a young teenage girl who loves her father with whom she lives in poverty, occasionally venturing into the woods to hunt to earn some extra money. Sound familiar? By changing a couple of words I could be describing The Hunger Games, Red Queen, A Court of Thorns and Roses, or many other books based on a similar premise. What makes Everless stand out is a really cool premise: time is currency, extracted and bleed from an individual to turn into a coin. To pay off one's debts, one flirts with death as they bleed away their future. Literally.

"Time is for burning, girl"

Jules Ember lives in poverty and her father owes time to the debtors. Having just turned seventeen, Jules thinks to extract her own time to pay off her debts - she's young, she'll have plenty of time to save herself, right? But her father isn't having that, so Jules picks another equally bad possibility. She returns to Everless, a massive estate home to the rich aristocrats the Gerlings as a servant, where she and her father lived years ago until a dangerous event occurred which forced them to flee. This is where the book bore a great many similarities to Gilded Cage by Vic James: a mansion and obscenely rich family, servitude, two sons who aren't quite what they seem but aren't great people. The beginning is enjoyable, but other than the really cool blood/money/time premise, it only really retraces well-trod YA ground in a well-written manner.

Whilst at Everless a sequence of events is put in motion involving the two Gerling sons, Jules' childhood crush and his fiancee, Jules' father, some devious royal plots, and a legend: the legend of the Sorceress and the Alchemist who were responsible for the citizens of Sempera having time in their blood. I wasn't all that invested in the middle chunk of the book, it didn't have that much going on that I could connect to emotionally: Jules sneaks around, makes some foolish mistakes, gets drunk and bonds with the fiancee of the Gerling heir. It's satisfactory reading, but there was no real spark there for me, no hook. Jules is an acceptable character, but I felt her fairly typical of the genre: driven by love for her family, has an unattainable crush, has some solid female friendships, but generally seems a touch dim.

"Fox," said Snake, curling slowly around her friend's heart "It's time we face the truth"

It is the last third or quarter, perhaps, of the book that really amazed me. All of a sudden there's tension, there's intrigue (with a massive twist that I only got half-right!), and the romance hooked me in. The ending packs in punch after punch and Jules really began to shine here! The book cleverly weaves in this myth, the Alchemist and the Sorceress, which comes to a climax in the final few pages. On the ending alone, Everless is an easy four stars, maybe even five, but the fairly cliche beginning and the plodding middle drag it down - I hope to see, as I did with Gilded Cage, an amazing sequel that takes these strengths and builds on them.

Everless' best quality is it's interesting premise (though it did leave me with a lot of questions - do people have a set amount of time, say 80 years? Or is everyone born with a different amount of time?), and I look forward to reading the sequel!

I received a copy of Everless from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Hachette Children’s Group for this opportunity.

The beginning of the story sees Jules leave her father for Everless, an estate she hasn’t been back to in many years. Her father has warned her to run in the other direction if she were ever to see Liam Gerling – the distant and “evil” son of the Lord Gerling, however upon arrival, despite attempting to keep her head down, she is noticed by many of the palace staff, and soon Roan, the other Gerling son and her old childhood friend.

Upon the Queen’s arrival, Jules experiences an unexplicable need to be near her, and when the opportunity arises, despite her father’s warning about the dangerous and ancient Queen, Jules applies for the role.

The beginning and middle sections of the plot keep the audience hooked with an intriguing and original premise. There is much that our protagonist has been sheltered from in life, and estate life with the visiting queen and her heir; Ina Gold, is more tricky than Jules anticipated. There are characters placed throughout the story, stemming from stories of Jules’ past life at Everless, who are less than amicable, and many of the staff must tiptoe around them carefully in order not to anger them and face the horrific consequences.

The story itself is told from Jules’ POV so we don’t actually have an insight into other aspects of palace life except those seen through Jules’ eyes, or stories she is told. This can be a little limiting, but this is also very common, and emphasises the plot twists and unexpected events even more.

I felt Holland was able to create a wonderful and vivid world between the pages, and I found myself entirely engrossed in this book from the first pages. Later on in the book, there are multiple events which occur leading the reader to have doubts about certain character behaviours – are they all really as evil as they make out? And there are certain airs of mystery around the palatial grounds that we can only hope to explore more in later books.

Characters themselves don’t have a huge amount of development, though this is just a first book in a longer series, and I believe a lot was put behind building the scenery and world in which the story is set. It is not just confined to Everless, but other villages, towns, and regions surrounding the estate. I really felt that I was part of the story; though I wouldn’t say I directly relate to Jules’ situation, there are certain aspects of her life which I think many younger millennial readers will connect with.

I really hope that later books will give Jules more interaction with other characters, we have just scraped the surface of many I am sure, and I am excited to see what is in store for later installments of the series.

The writing style for me was very suitable for the target audience, it did not dwell on fluffy unnecessary parts, and kept the plot at a nice pace; its ease of read also made it a real page turner.

One aspect I did find strange was the ending to the book; most first-books-in-series are able to stand entirely on their own, and it is the wonderful world created that draws readers into the series. However, Everless itself – whilst it can be argued that it does standalone if necessary, leaves a lot of unanswered questions, (a sure-fire way to get people to read the next book!)

I’m unsure if i was a fan of this ending, being a little bit of a cliffhanger, but this really was a great and enjoyable read and without the cliffhanger ending, I am sure that I would be picking up the next in the series and transporting myself back to this world.

Overall I am awarding this book 4.5*/5 – I absolutely adored the read and can’t thank NetGalley and Hachette Children’s Books enough for the wonderful opportunity to read and review this book. It was a fantastic debut novel from Holland, and I can’t wait to read more of the wonderful world of Everless.

Not quite 5 stars as it didn’t completely blow me away, but it was pretty awesome and very close to. I would recommend this to anyone who is a YA/ Fantasy fiction lover; for fans of Caraval, and the Red Queen series (the story, and ignoring the main character if that was your issue with this book!) It is full of intriguing storylines and a magical feeling of mystery – it’s safe to say I loved it!

Keep an eye out for this wonderful and “timeless” book in stores 4th January 2018!

I raced through this - and was surprised when it finished, as it had a great pace and was utterly readable

Real promise here. Not quite as amazing as other reviews would suggest (in many ways predictable, clunky etc) but a fun read and promise of great things to come. Probs 3.5 but rounding up as I did read it in 24 hours

I want to start this review off by saying that I was so happy to find I had been accepted on NetGalley to review Everless by Sara Holland. As soon as I read the synopsis, I knew it was going to be a book that I would enjoy. It has been a while since I read one that captured my attention and managed to keep it, and trust me when I say that Everless easily managed to do that. I was hooked until I had read the last page and some of the twists that this book had were amazing. Sara Holland created such a unique world and I believed all of it.

Set in the land of Sempera, time is the currency and the rich rule over all. The myth of alchemy and sorcery has been around forever, telling of a time when the two bound time to blood and created blood iron coins that time could be bound to. The richer you are, the more time you have and the poor are selling their time to stay alive. Jules and her father are running out of time and can no longer afford to pay their rent and eat. Her father has given everything and she worries that he now longer has the time they need, so she offers to help by going to Everless.

Everless is the stately home that belongs to the Gerlings, a rich family that Jules and her father have history with. Not everything is as it seems though, and as she remembers her past, she is thrown into a world that she doesn’t truly understand. There are consequences to every action and Jules must try to find the truth of why she was told to stay away from Everless and the Gerlings, especially the Queen.

The world that Holland has created had so much mysterious and I was always left wanting more. She writes beautifully and it flowed well, always making me want to read for longer than I should. We are given the history of Sempera and the blood iron early on in the story, and while it is a lot to take in at once it was described perfectly. The legend of the Alchemist and Sorceress was excellent, and it was believable. As I made my way through the book, I found myself becoming more engrossed and I wanted my questions answered. I wanted to find out the truth and when I did, I was shocked. There were twists and turns that I wasn’t expecting and Holland had me gasping out loud in shock.

The characters in the story are wonderful and mysterious. Personally, I loved Jules and how selfless she was to try and save her father. She is just a girl trying to discover herself and learn how to survive in a world that is cruel. I can’t say too much without giving away plot details, and this isn’t the kind of book that should be spoiled for anyone.

I was glad that even though there were a lot of characters, it didn’t feel like there were too many, and Jules’ relationships with them all seemed genuine. Learning about her past with the Gerling brothers was great and being able to see the comparison with the present was interesting. It was great to read a book where a romance wasn’t at the centre of it. I especially loved the mystery that surrounded the Queen and why she was deemed so dangerous, something you will have to find out by reading this incredible book.

Overall, this book was mind blowing. I can’t even begin to describe how excited I am to read the second book when it comes out. Holland has created an original and captivating book that I know fans of YA Fantasy will love. It was so easy to give this book 5 stars and it is more than deserving of them!

I loved loved LOVED this book. The world building was on point, I really loved the whole time is currency thing. It was so well thought out! I'LL TAKE A DASH OF TIME WITH MY CUP OF TEA THANKS. I wish! Well no I don't the whole time currency thing is pretty horrific but I'd love more time to read! I kept thinking I knew what was going to happen, there were what I thought were hints to a really cliche'd love triangle but thankfully I was wrong again and again!


Fast-paced and gripping, I honestly couldn't put it down! I read it in a day and a bit and I'm still reeling. There are fairy tales and a very detailed history which is fascinating. There is definitely a set up for book 2 - though I am slightly nervous about it as it's not going to be anything like the first book as too much is going to have to change.

I loved Jules, though there were a few times I wanted to shake her like, COME ON GIRL! She was very lucky she had some people on her side, as she kept sticking her neck out when she probably shouldn't have and getting away with it. Gotta love a character with flaws though! I found her motivations believable, though she doesn't really grow too much as a character, which is okay as that wasn't really the point of the story.

I enjoyed Liam a lot, gotta love a bad guy! Roan- well we're meant to love Roan. There were what seemed like some hints and foreshadowing that didn't seem to come to fruition around Roan. Let me know if you noticed them too! Or was I misunderstanding? Caro was pretty cool, as was Ina and I look forward to seeing more of them in book 2!

I’d heard so much love for this book among fellow reviewers who’ve also been lucky enough to get early copies so I was excited to delve into this new fantasy series. However I must admit, I started reading Everless with a little trepidation. Could this book live up to the early hype? The simple answer, for me, is yes.

I actually had a whole section written to try and describe this book but honestly my draft was long and I just didn’t feel it did the book justice. So we are just going to skip that bit and I refer you to the synopsis above!

This is a hard book to put down, and yet I didn’t want it to end. The concept of time as a currency, extracted from the blood is so creative. I’ve never read anything quite like it. Sara Holland has created a fascinating, rich world where the gulfs between rich and poor are not only measured in monetary value but in time, lifespan.

There’s so much to like in this novel. The storyline is absorbing and mysterious, with characters that I certainly became invested in. It’s a clever, well-written novel that may on the surface appear like others in the genre but is actually quite unique. It has a fairytale-esque feel to it, with the same looming darkness our favourite tales contain.

All in all, this is an excellent, addictive read. I genuinely cannot wait to read the second book in this series. I really think Everless will be hugely popular in 2018. Expect to see this book everywhere.

Initial ideas – Everless what the HELL
Honestly hand on my heart I loved every minute of this book. I read it in under 24 hours spread over just two days.

Everless is a castle run by the Gerlings. In Sempera your time is a currency. Jules was banished from Everless along with her father when she was younger. Since then she has been living a life full of debt and hunger without the protection of the castle. Jules’ father is running out of time and she must find away to pay off their debt and to save him. Even if this means returning to Everless a place that is full of danger and temptation.

The unique use of time as currency blew my mind, I found it intriguing and able to show the greed of the richer class to remain young and beautiful forever while the poor sell their lives away. There is a slow burn mystery through out the novel which is just enough to keep you captivated. Jules as a main character is amazing she is head strong and brave and will do anything for those that she loves.

My only issue would be that the ending happened quickly but still left you feeling stunned over the revelations. THAT PLOT TWIST WHATTT

Everless is definitely the perfect first book for an epic fantasy series. You learn a lot about the world and about the characters. There was a lot of build up but I was never bored by the storyline – I think this was due to the mystery through the book.

Everyone needs to add this to their TBRs immediately, I am still so amazed by it.

This was an intriguing, detailed and enjoyable read. I liked the main character and while I had a couple of niggles about some of the things she did and some of the other characters it kept me interested and I found I wanted to read more. The ending was a bit of a cliffhanger and I definitely saw some of the twists coming but not all of them. I look forward to the next book.

Words can't even explain how much I adored this book! I read it all in a day since I just couldn't put it down. The story was fantastic and I fell in love with so many of the characters. I'm already so excited for the next book and this one isn't even out yet! More in-depth review on my website, but essentially I adored the book.

I'm already looking forward to the next adventure in this series and I've only just finished the first one! Lots of magic, some heartache, a little bit of romance and a helluva lot of engaging reading. I loved feisty main protagonist Jules and empathised with her grief on losing her father. Many secrets were uncovered in Sempera but I'm sure there are many more to come - bring it one!

This was an evocative and tightly paced first title in a YA series based around an original and arresting concept.

In Sempera, time is currency. The poor trade the time left in their lives for food and shelter, and the rich guzzle it, living for centuries off the proceeds of inherited wealth. Against this pleasingly class-war backdrop we meet Jules - a poor teenage villager desperate to prevent her father bleeding away his last hours to keep their debts at bay. She runs away to take up work at the stately home they were cast from when she was a child, where she discovers a world of intrigue, alchemy and peril.

There was a lot to like in this book - some of the characters really sung, though some was a little more patchy. The plotting and pacing were satisfying, and the world building was excellent. There were also a couple of very deftly pulled off reveals. However, the conclusion could have been much more satisfying - the final act felt rushed, and I was left wanting a lot more information. It's great to want more from the first instalment of a series, but I really could have done with a bit more meat on the bones of the series arc.

This book will go down well with fans of YA fantasy - especially those who enjoyed The Hunger Games for the political bite. I'm already looking forward to the next instalment!

I really loved the story!

The mixture of science and magic used to fill humans greed for immortality rather than gold was a nice twist on the theory of alchemy.

I think there was a lot thought woven into the world building - turning blood into coins that had values in hours, day, weeks, months and years and how time was used as a form of payment.

The story of life as a servant within the house of a wealthy family with ties to the Queen is a familiar one, but one that was enjoyable nevertheless. My main issue with the book was the main character herself; Jules.

She had no defining characteristics and her personality fluctuated too much as she seemed only to adopt certain traits in order to push the story forward, as opposed to them actually being a part of who she is. Considering she was supposed to be the protagonist she was a weak character - again only showing strength if strength was needed to push the story forward. I really enjoyed the other characters; Caro, Ina and Liam - there was a lot of individuality put into each of them from the way they spoke to the way they carried themselves and can't wait to see what's in store for them next.

I think this book will do really well but hope that Jules' less than inspiring characteristics won't bring the engaging story of the Fox and the Snake down.

Going into this book, the premise of the story and the idea behind blood acting as currency is really original and exciting to read about. Sara Holland is not shy when it comes to showing the horrors of this monetary system and I like that she pushed the boundaries with this, to show how dark the society is.

My main concern with this book is that the way that this system is used is not explained very clearly. For example, it is unclear how people use blood iron coins, when they use blood letting to pay for items. This is something that is weaved throughout the book, so it would have been nice to see a stronger explanation of this feature.

Also, the relationships between the characters didn't feel as if they change or develop throughout the book. This aspect fell a bit flat and it would have been better to have fleshed these out a bit more.

Everless is based on such an interesting and unique concept that I couldn't wait to dive into its world. In Sempera, time is literally money - the poor bleed themselves dry to create iron coins, used as currency to pay the wealthy for protection, rent and everything else.

Jules and her father are getting desperate. They're behind on rent and Jules' father is reaching the point where he doesn't have enough time left to pay. So when an opportunity comes up to work for double pay at Everless, home of the aristocratic Guerling family, Jules can't say no - even after her father's dire warnings not to work there. Guerling is full of secrets, and Jules soon discovers that, no matter how low a profile she tries to keep, she's about to become embroiled in them. Danger is round every corner and it's only a matter of time until Jules stumbles into it.

After a fairly slow build, the story is well-paced with lots of intrigue and surprise, and I'm excited to see where the next installment will take us. There's a good balance of world-building, fantasy, romance, adventure and character growth - though I would have liked a little more insight into Jules' character from others' perspectives (difficult, I know, when the narrative is first person). She's your standard protagonist in that everyone seems to instantly like her, but given how dour she comes across most of the time (understandably, I'd like to add, given her hardships and history), I found it hard to believe everyone's insta-like for her.

Everless is full of twists and turns and quickly erased any trepidation I had going into the novel. It's easy for YA fantasy to feel repetitive or cliched, and I was pleasantly surprised that Everless was neither of those things. Sara Holland has a unique and fresh idea, and it's carried out brilliantly in this novel. Bring on the sequel!

I know you shouldn't go into a book expecting the worst, but these days it's hard not to approach any new YA fantasy without some trepidation. The genre is often tropey and unoriginal. Publishers churn out versions of the same old story again and again. It's hard to find the hidden gems among the pile. But Everless really surprised me.

It's not a perfect book by any means and Holland does fall into some traps commonly fallen into by debut authors - namely, the huge infodump in the first few chapters, and some confusing descriptions of the world-building and mythology that I didn't really understand for a long time. But it's okay. Because the mysteries here are interesting, the premise one I haven't come across before, and many things are... not what you first think.

Everless introduces a world where time is currency and a person's time can be drained or added to through blood. Punishments often involve bleeding a person's time from them, which in this world is the morbid equivalent of paying a fine. The richest, of course, have the most time and can, in theory, live indefinitely. While the poorest - like Jules Ember and her Papa - must literally bleed themselves dry to pay rent, cutting their lifespan down further and further.

Jules watches her father sicken day by day as he gives up more of his time. In order to save him, she takes a job as a servant at Everless, the estate of the Gerlings - one of the wealthiest and most important families in Sempera. As we soon find out, though, Everless is a big part of Jules's past, as well as her future. There are many secrets to be uncovered and Jules must find out the truth of why her Papa always warned her away from the place.

I found it extremely compelling. Holland introduces familiar tropes, but then she subverts and plays around with them. The obvious romance was not as obvious as I first believed, and the villains came as quite a surprise. Don't be so sure who are the bad guys and who are the good guys.

It is the kind of story that gets bigger and bigger as it moves along. The quiet mystery keeps on expanding and adding ever more questions. And I think the author really does this unique premise justice. She includes small moments, unrelated to the main story, that are deeply sad. Such as this:

"An older couple, two women with backs curved with too much work and too few years, hunch over a small table in the corner, taking turns cutting each other's palms and letting the blood flow into empty vials. I wonder if they're putting time away for their children."


How awful to imagine a world where people bleed themselves, take years off their lives, to give their children a better life. How awful and how... believable. It is the perfect metaphor for what many poor parents in our world do for their kids.

I thought it was a really interesting and engaging story. I enjoyed Jules's perspective and I'm excited by the hints of romantic possibility set up for the next book. I should warn you-- Everless ends on a particularly evil cliffhanger, but I wouldn't let that put you off. If you're anything like me, it'll just heighten the anticipation for the next book. Write fast please, Ms Holland!