Never Thirteen (The Evers 2) by Stacy McAnulty

What worked:

This book immediately creates a conflict between Ronan and the Evers. Ronan is psychic, like most of his relatives, and he learns from his aunt that psychics and Evers are enemies. Evers can steal Ronan’s psychic power but he can kill Evers through extended physical contact. Ronan’s aunt says psychics have a responsibility to rid the earth of Evers since Evers intend to spread their “disease” around the world. This revelation causes a huge internal conflict for Ronan since an Ever named Ivy is one of his good friends. Ivy’s Ever friends learn about his ability, meaning they now see him as a threat. This conflict between Evers and Enders becomes a bigger problem as Ivy and her friends begin to look elsewhere for answers. Alternating chapters focus on various main characters so readers can appreciate their different points of view.

This series will make readers ponder the concept of eternal life and the serious consequences it holds. The Evers don’t age and their injuries heal while they rest which sounds wonderful. However, not growing old means they never change physically while everyone around them does. It’s impossible to go unnoticed in a community so the Evers are forced to constantly move. They don’t like to develop serious friendships since they can’t last long and the Evers will experience grief and sadness when mortal friends die. Since Ivy’s only recently been changed, the Evers want to make her mortal again so she can have a normal life. Another Ever wants the same thing but his decision creates a rift between Este, the oldest member of their group, and the others.

The author throws another twist into the plot since Ivy’s new roommate is mortal. Aurora knows nothing about Ivy’s secret so she’s hurt and confused by Ivy’s behavior. Ivy is forced to lie about why she didn’t finish the previous school year and why she often sneaks off to meet with the other Evers. Aurora feels like she’s being avoided and pushed away and she realizes Ivy isn’t being honest. This only adds to Aurora’s stress about her parents’ splitting up so the friction between the roommates grows. Other characters new to the series bring different perspectives about Evers and Enders along with additional questions and a few answers.

What didn’t work as well:

The idea of Enders doesn’t make total sense. If Enders can hurt Evers by touching them but Evers can hurt Enders by doing the same thing, won’t they hurt each other if they make contact? Also, there’s still fuzziness about why some psychics feel it’s their duty to end the Evers. Evers don’t seem to have the same feeling about Enders. If this battle has been going on for centuries, why hasn’t Este ever heard about Enders during her almost three hundred years of life?

The final verdict:

The author introduces several consequences of becoming mortal again that really complicate Ivy’s thoughts about returning to a normal life. There are dramatic twists on an emotional rollercoaster as the battle between Evers and psychics escalates. I recommend you give this book a shot but I also suggest you read Forever Twelve first.