Review – Everwild (Skinjacker Trilogy, Book 2) by Neal Shusterman (4/5 stars)

This is the second book in the Skinjacker Trilogy by Neal Shusterman. I got this through the Amazon Vine program to review. It was just as good as the first book in the trilogy; reading the first book before this one is a must. This book takes up the story where the last book left off.

Mary Hightower is trying to build an army to collect Afterlights to her way of life, she strongly believes that dwelling in the Everlost is a gift. Nick, now better known as the monstrous chocolate Ogre, is trying to send children on from Everlost by giving them their coins back and letting them move on to death in Peace. Mary and Nick are in a battle against each other that could be come the largest conflict Everlost has ever seen. Meanwhile Allie and Mikey (the former horrible McGill Monster) are traveling to Allie’s parents’ new house when they run into Milos. Milos is another Skinjacker, like Allie, and he has a lot to teach her about the Skinjackers’ world. In the end the all of our main cast of characters are drawn together to decide what will become of the Afterlights in Everlost.

This was a great book. The wonderful characters from the first book all have their parts to play. We learn a lot more about Mikey McGill and Allie learns a lot more about what she can do as a Skinjacker. You also get the addition of a wonderful new characters in Milos and Zinnia (who is a ripper).

The strength of this book is the extremely creative world of Everlost and the idea of a transition world between life and death that only exists for children. There is a lot of action in this story and the book propels itself forward as you wonder what Mary’s plans are for takeover over Everlost and you wonder what lengths Nick will go to stop her. Then of course there is the side story of Allie and her journey back to her parents.

The book ends kind of in the middle of the story, but the main story arc of this book is wrapped up. Still, I can’t wait to see what happens to these characters in the last book of the trilogy.

A very creative and engaging book; this is another in the series that I can recommend to all ages. It is full of adventure and interesing powers. Yet, it touches on questions of death, love, and loyalty too. A wonderful read.