Ever

Title: Ever
Author: Gail Carson Levine

What it's about: Kezi is a simple girl who loves to weave and to dance. Olus is the god of winds. Kezi's father makes a vow, and it ends up that Kezi will have to be sacrificed to her people's god in a month's time. She and Olus fall in love, though, and they decide that something has to be done. In order to save Kezi, both she and Olus must undergo great trials to prove themselves and their love so that they may always be together.

What I thought: Like all of the books I've read by this author, Ever is a love story. Unlike the other books I've read by her, Ever is not a fairytale. Instead, the setting is kinda biblical. Reminds me of the Old Testament and the excerpts about the Gilgamesh legend I read in high school, as well as the mythology that Snow Crash dug into. Also, kinda like Many Waters, which I should put down on my list as another book to review. Anyway, I think it's a refreshing setting to use for a novel like this. The writing is very simple and descriptive, but it almost seemed too simple to me. Maybe it was the sentence structure, maybe it was the present tense, first-person narration, or the frequency of point-of-view switches. Something about how this story was written brought it down from having an epic style to seeming stilted and stylized. The characters were all right. I liked Kezi, but I couldn't really connect with Olus. I guess I have to say that the book was good, and it had some fun romance in it, but it just didn't seem to have any meat to it, especially compared to the two books I read prior to it, or to the book I just finished.

Overall: Not bad, but I recommend her other books more.