Skinjacker Trilogy

Everlost ***

by Neal Shusterman
Book Type: YA, Fantasy

Summary: Nick and Allie don't survive the car accident...but their souls don't exactly get where they're supposed to get either. Instead, they're caught halfway between life and death, in a sort of limbo known as Everlost: a shadow of the living world, filled with all the things and places that no longer exist. It's a magical yet dangerous place where bands of lost children run wild and anyone who stands in the same place too long sinks to the center of the Earth.
When they find Mary, the self-proclaimed queen of lost kids, Nick feels like he's found a home. But Allie isn't satisfied spending eternity between worlds. Against all warnings, Allie begins learning the "Criminal Art" of haunting and ventures into dangerous territory, where a monster called the McGill threatens all the souls of Everlost.
In this imaginative novel, Neal Shusterman explores questions of life, death, and what just might lie in between.

summary found on goodreads
My Review: This story is about a couple of kids, Allie and Nick, who die. Instead of going into the light their spirits get trapped in the "in-between", a place affectionately called "everlost" by the children trapped there. Allie and Nick go on a journey to understand the place they're trapped in and they find Mary; the self-appointed queen of everlost. She takes lost spirits under her wing and helps them find their niche. Except Allie; Allie refuses to find her niche. She wants more, she NEEDS more. So she travels until she finds the monster known as the McGill. It is fun to follow along with Allie and Nick as they try to understand this world their trapped in and what they should do next. I thought concept was fun. A story about people trapped in the "in-between". The place between heaven and earth. The characters are fun and well developed. This is a great quick and exciting story. If you enjoy that type of thing, you'll enjoy this one!

Everwild ***
by Neal Shusterman
Book Type: YA, Fantasy
Summary: Everlost, the limbo land of dead children, is at war. Nick the “Chocolate Ogre” wants to help the children of Everlost reach the light at the end of the tunnel. Mary Hightower, self-proclaimed queen of lost children and dangerous fanatic, is determined to keep Everlost’s children trapped within its limbo for all eternity. Traveling in the memory of the Hindenburg, Mary is spreading her propaganda and attracting Afterlights to her cause at a frightening speed.
Meanwhile, Allie the Outcast travels home to seek out her parents, along with Mikey, who was once the terrifying monster the McGill. Allie is tempted by the seductive thrill of skinjacking the living, until she discovers the shocking truth about skinjackers.
summary found on goodreads
My Review: This book follows Nick the "chocolate ogre" and Mary Hightower as they battle each other to reach each child who comes to Everlost. Nick wants to send these kids home while Mary wants to keep them in Everlost forever.Mary fears the next life and doesn't want any child to move on. She begins to lose her sanity as she begins to bring AND trap children inside of Everlost. Allie discovers that she has the gift of skinjacking, the ability to inhabit and use the body's of living people. New characters are introduced and there is a twist that will shock you. This book was fun like the first one. But little miss Mary is INSANE. She really is completely crazy. I hope that they take her down in the third book! I look forward to reading it. :) It truly is a fun, exciting book!

Everfound ***1/2
by Neal Shusterman
Book Type: YA, Fantasy
Summary: 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.
summary found on goodreads
My Review: I thought this book was the best in the series. Mary is even more insane in this book than the first two, she is desperate to destroy the world in order to "save" everyone. Although she is pushed back into the real world and brought back to life, Milos willingly kills her in order to bring her back to Everlost. She is supposed to sleep for nine months but sometimes, things change. Mary is absolutely insane. This book was kind of stressful for me because she is SO crazy. But I really love Mickey McGill and I began to really enjoy all of the other characters in the story, except Milos. Milos is obsessed with Mary and is willing to do anything that she says. The story just continues to get bigger and bigger until the climax when things finally wrap up and everyone ends up where they are meant to be. I thought the story was exciting and the ending was done pretty well. Things end well but the lives of the characters in the story are certainly not perfect, which I prefer. It was a fun story in the end.