Common Sense Media Review
By Carrie R. Wheadon
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Wrap-up of multimedia series is hasty but satisfying.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 8+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
What's the Story?
After losing most of their hard-earned talismans to the traitor Shane and the mind-controlling giant snake, Gerathon, and losing their friend Meilin to Gerathon's mind powers, Conor, Abeke, and Rollan know their mission to save the world from the Conquerors is close to failing. All Gerathon needs to do is free the Great Beast Kovo from his prison and subdue the last good Great Beast who holds him. The Conquerors are on the move, amassing an army to defeat the remaining Green Cloaks. Most of the Green Cloaks march to meet them in the land of Stetriol, a diversion for Conor, Abeke, and Rollan as they try to sneak in and take the last talisman before Kovo is freed. They travel by a ship named for the Great Beast they seek. Before they can even reach port, they're attacked, their small band discovered before they even reach Stetriol.
Is It Any Good?
THE EVERTREE is an exciting conclusion to a fun multimedia series -- but it's a hasty one. Readers are given the young heroes' objective before they set off for Stetriol: Don't let Kovo out of prison, or else. "Or else" happens, and readers may feel a bit lost after that point. Nothing comes up about the actual Evertree and the stories around it until the eleventh hour -- unless you count Conor's dreams of golden leaves, but it's not enough of a hint of what's to come. Rush to the tree to catch Kovo, rush to understand its meaning to the Great Beasts and all of humanity, rush home for the heroes' celebration (there's not even a hint of how they got from Stetriol to home -- suddenly they're there). It feels a bit like fantasy-fiction Cliff's Notes.
Author Marie Lu had a lot to squeeze into the under-200-page formula the series was going for, and she did hit the high notes -- hooray for Meilin and Rollan -- but the formula misses an opportunity for a bigger series send-off.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how the series ended. Was it what you thought? What surprises were there?
What were Shane's reasons for his behavior? Did you empathize with him? Do you think he deserved mercy?
Research time! Many mythologies throughout human history have included a tree that symbolizes life and the sacred. Compare the Yggdrasil from Norse mythology with the Evertree and stories from other cultures.
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Fantasy
- Topics : Fantasy ( Magic ) , Friendship , Animals ( Ocean Creatures , Wild Animals )
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Scholastic Inc.
- Publication date : March 31, 2015
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 8 - 12
- Number of pages : 192
- Available on : Audiobook (abridged), Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : September 30, 2025
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