Title: Ever
Author: Gail Carson Levine
Genre: Youth Fantasy/Mythology
Pages: 256
Rating: 3.5 of 5
Gail Carson Levine regularly passes the C. S. Lewis test of “A children’s story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children’s story in the slightest.” Even as an adult, I find her stories like Ella Enchanted (the book, NOT the movie!) and A Tale of Two Castles to be charming and entertaining with strong, resourceful heroines. Ever is a little more mature and little less whimsical in tone, but I still enjoyed it overall.
Levine leaves behind her usual fairytale subject matter in favor of more historical and mythological elements. The plot riffs on an interesting combination of the biblical story of Jephthah’s rash vow (Judges 11:29-40) and Sumerian/Akkadian culture and mythology (especially Inanna/Ishtar’s descent to the underworld). Our main first person POV characters are are the Jephthah’s-daughter-equivalent and a young god of the winds.
The plotting veers a little toward the “and then this happened, and then the next thing happened for inscrutable reasons, and then something else happened just because, and then the convenient deus ex machina happened…” manner of ancient mythology. People expecting Levine’s usual style may find it a little off-putting or flat, but I think that it works well with the subject matter and is fairly interesting even if it isn’t quite as charming as usual.
Also, this is another book checked off my 2019 TBR Challenge!
Joelendil's Kingdom of Books 
I remember first reading Gail Carson Levine when I was a student and I still pick up her books for a re-read. Definitely passes Lewis’s test
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I only came across her as an adult when I met my wife (Levine is her favorite author), but now my daughters love her as well (my son, not as much).
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I didn’t love this one as much as some of her others, but Ella Enchanted and The Two Princesses of Bamarre are two of my absolute favourites, even as an adult!
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The audiobook of “Tale of Two Castles” is one of my favorites. Ever is definitely second-tier, but I like mythology enough that I still found it interesting
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I’ve been meaning to read Levine for years- glad to hear she passes the Lewis test! 😀
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“Ella Enchanted” is probably her best, and the Audible audiobook of “Tale of Two Castles” is fantastic (it features a ‘commoner’ dragon who specializes in ‘deductive and inductive reasoning’)
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Oh that’s really good to know- I absolutely *love* the sound of a commoner dragon!
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Her “The Two Princesses of Bamarre” has an excellent dragon as well…more of a classic Smaug type.
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