Everfound

By Neal Shusterman

While Mary lies in a glass coffin aboard a ghost train heading west, her minions are awaiting her re-awakening by bringing lots of new souls into Everlost to serve her. Meanwhile Jackin' Jill has met Jix, a fur-jacker - a skin jacker who can take over the bodies of animals, most notably jaguars. Jix serves a Mayan god who collects Everlost coins, and has his own agenda. In the concluding volume of The Skinjacker Trilogy, Neal Shusterman reveals new sides of the characters of Everlost, who are pitted against each other in a battle that may destroy all life on Earth.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
• Release date: Jun 9, 2011
• ISBN: 9780857071835

Neal Shusterman

Neal Shusterman is the New York Times bestselling author of more than thirty award-winning books for children, teens, and adults, including the Unwind dystology, the Skinjacker trilogy, Downsiders, and Challenger Deep, which won the National Book Award. Scythe, the first book in his series Arc of a Scythe is a Michael L. Printz Honor Book. He also writes screenplays for motion pictures and television shows. Neal is the father of four, all of whom are talented writers and artists themselves. Visit Neal at StoryMan.com and Facebook.com/NealShusterman.

Reviews for Everfound

[mirandalg14 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I think this was the best one yet!

[redfrn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this last book in the series, but it was a bit slow in the beginning, and the very end was a bit too fast!

[krau0098 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the third and final book in The Skinjacker Trilogy. It ends the series well and continues to be an extremely creative series that delves into interesting questions surrounding life and death. I listened to this on audio book and it was very well done.Mary Hightower has been sent back to sleep as an Interlight, Allie is strapped to the front of Mary's train, Mikey is on his way down to the center of the earth, and Nick (the chocolate ogre) has been blasted to pieces. This book starts out a little time after the second book ended. Things are falling apart; Allie wants to defeat Mary's army of Afterlights in hopes of stopping Mary's plan to destroy the living world but she is trapped on the train carrying Mary's sleeping body. Some new characters are added to the fray; enter Jix an Afterlight sent to retrieve Mary by the King of the City of Souls and Clarence a skin-wraith that can extinguish Afterlights with just a touch.There is a lot that happens in this book. The characters are all acting how they think is best, but they don't know what the other characters are doing so there are a lot of twists and turns as their story threads come together. There are a number of things in this story that happen and you think, huh...what did that have to do with anything? In the end though everything in this story had a purpose to serve. Shusterman does an excellent job of creating a complicated story with numerous story threads that all come together nicely to create a well-thought out book.The characters continue to be a mix of good and bad and are very human. Mary has decided that to save everyone she needs to destroy the living world; she is evil in her intent but her reasoning makes sense to her and this makes her surprisingly human. The same can be said of many of the characters. Ally is trying to save the living world, but in doing so ends up being just as ruthless as Mary in some cases. Mikey has tried to leave the monster part of himself behind, but can't quite stop playing the monster. All of these characters are shades of grey and they are all doing what they think is best for humanity.Jackin Jill plays a large role in this story, as does Jix an Afterlight that has taken on decidedly Jaguar features and is present at the request of the king of The City of Souls.Shusterman pays a lot of attention to detail so all of the mechanics behind Afterlights and inanimate objects going over to Everlost are well explained and interesting to read about. This is a well thought out and very creative book. The book is tied up nicely and the epilogue ties up all of the characters loose threads. At times it did seem like too much is happening, so it took the story a long time to spin itself out. Everything did happen for a reason, but some of the diversions the characters took (for example the whole Wurlitzer part) got a bit lengthy.Overall fans of this series should find this book to be a very satisfying conclusion to the series. The plot is well done, the characters very life-like, and the world incredibly creative. There were a couple times that I thought side stories were drawn out too long; the characters all take very twisty paths to the final battle. I am in awe of Shusterman's ability to think through the complexities of this world and in awe with his creativity. I will definitely be picking up some of Shusterman's other books to read.

[piersanti-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A great ending to the trilogy. Very well-written and fast-paced.

[aimless22 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. Found myself cheering out loud for the characters at times and crying with them at others. 

[bookgal123 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A powerful end to a haunting series. (Sorry for the pun--I couldn't resist.)

[bookaddictdiary · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Let me start this review with a confession: I freaking love Neal Shusterman. Absolutely everything of his that I have read I have freaking loved. Not just loved -freaking loved. That's a whole lot of love right there. Even some of the authors that I've been reading for a long time don't have the kind of love. Ever since I read Unwind a few years ago, Neal Schusterman has had a special place in my heart as the king of awesomely haunting, meaningful YA novels that are always worth reading -and the Skinjacker trilogy is no exception.Everfound picks up right where Everwild picks up. Mary Hightower has managed to come back to Everlost, but is stuck in the usual hibernation period (called being an Interlight) before awakening as a full-fledged Afterlight. As her minions wait for her to awaken, Allie and others head west. Meanwhile, Jackin' Jill's path crosses with Jix, a strange Afterlight who has the ability to furjack -or take over the bodies of animals. Jix takes orders from a Mayan king who enjoys collecting the coins of Everlost. As the many characters and plot lines converge, the wild twistiness and epic awesome of Everfound explodes.Completely and absolutely satisfying, Everfound delivers an epic thrill-ride from start to finish. From the very first word until the last, I couldn't put this book down. I kept flipping pages, desperately wanting to know what would happen next. It was amazing to see the intricate and unexpected twists and turns, even when it got close to end. Even now, Shusterman revealed things about his characters that readers would never expect.Everfound is an excellent conclusion to a great series. Taking the stakes higher and the plot further, Shusterman continues to develop his world up until the very end, crafting a fascinating and engaging world that never ceases to amaze. I'm really sorry to see this series end. It was a fantastic world with incredibly unique characters, and I would recommend to anyone -Shusterman knows how to do it right.

[ninelarks-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The culmination of this trilogy. Love is found, love is reunited, the armies face off, a weapon of mass destruction is detonated, spirits are exorcised, and good wins at the end of the day.

This is actually the first time I have given the last book a higher rating than the previous ones. It's strengths lie in the fact that the book does not skimp on new characters - bringing a new life to each story. While I would have wished I could learn about Allie and Nick better, to be quite frank, Shusterman didn't really have much to add to their personalities anyway.

Again, it was a highly plot driven story, rather than a character story. But it was good because it kept it fast-paced and always moving.

It was a good end to the series.
I'm not going to read it again, but I don't regret reading the trilogy.

Three stars because I am actually pleased at the ending and how things were wrapped up - which is difficult in a series. Recommended for people who read the previous two books, naturally.

[ctmsfama · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The book Everfound takes you through many more dangerous journeys. Every character takes you on their own adventure. Mary was killed again and brought back into everlost by Milos. She now lies in a glass coffin for nine months. Meanwhile Jackin’ Jill has met Jix, a fur-jacker—a skin jacker who can take over the bodies of animals, most notably jaguars. Allie is tied to the front of a train while under Milos’ control. When Mikey finds a scar wrath named Clarence. The touch of a scar wraith can make their souls cease to exist.I really loved this book this was the best book in the series by far. I never wanted to put the book down. I think that it is one of Neil Shusterman’s best books. It was amazing to see the unexpected twists and turns, even when the end came around. Even now, Shusterman revealed things about his characters that readers would never expect. The new information and the sudden changes keep me wanting more.I would recommend this book to anyone. Even people that hate to read could easily love this book. They will fall in love with fiction just like I did after reading this book.I gave this book five stars because this could be one of the best books I ever read. I love how Neil continues to fill in more information about the characters that I thought I already knew so well. I also like how the story lines are so different for each character but yet he still weaves them into the storylines of all the other characters.I didn’t like the way the book ended. I believe it should have ended the charter before it did. The ending ruined the flow of the story for me. I also didn’t like how he seemed to drag out some scenes too long.

[kassilem · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a interesting conclusion. I thought it was a tiny bit anticlimactic as an ending to a trilogy but it didn't bother me too much. Again, the writing is done very well and the story is based around a very interesting idea. I will certainly be keeping my eyes open to more of Shusterman's books for now on; more than I have been previously because he gives us such interesting books. A recommended author.

[longdogmom · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

When I started this trilogy I wasn't sure if I liked it. It had an interesting premise but it took me a while to get into the characters and the story, but by this third book I was hooked! The story seemed to get darker and darker as Mary's quest to save the children grew more and more fanatical and her battle with Nick and his allies to thwart her plans seemed to push her past the edge of sanity. The books ended up having much more depth than I had expected when I began book 1. It touched on so many different things that left me thinking about it long after I had put the book down and turned off the light to sleep. This final book really pulled all three books together and it ended up being one of the best stories (the three books combined) that I've read. Highly recommended!

[melmelmax · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

really enjoyed this!! Maybe even more so than the first. Probably because at this stage, we have our villains and heroes and we know what needs to be answered.. I LOVE Allie's discovery!! Unexpected!! It's so good! It took me a single day to finish, and i work 8 hours a day... All i'm going to say it its an AMAZING page turner and when i realized i was a chapter away from finishing, i literally (not even kidding here) rushed to the library and picked up the next one. When i left the library I was already a third of the way into the last XDthan you NealON TO THE NEXT ONE!!!