Search for Senna (Everworld #1)

The Short and Sweet of It
David, Jalil, Christopher, and April are normal kids, but Senna (girlfriend, friend, ex-girlfriend, and sister, respectively) is not, and when Senna is suddenly swallowed by a wolf too large to exist and the whole world starts turning itself inside out, they are caught up in the struggles of a world (a universe?) very different from their own. Despite my wishing for a bit more depth, this is a fast, one-sitting type read, and I am really looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

A Bit of a Ramble
Vikings, Aztecs, gods, witches, and children stuck in the middle of all it. That's my kind of fun. I found this randomly on SwapTree and thought 'why not?' Why not, indeed. I have already requested the next four show more books in the series from BookMooch, and I'm hoping the lovely gentleman in Australia will be willing to send them to the US. My only complaint is that the book was too short, the characters, world, and plot a bit too undeveloped; however, I'm hopeful that the rest of the series will correct this problem, and then I can just look at it like one big book.

First, the main reason I enjoy books like this:

I'd lived sixteen years' worth of shiny malls and dark school hallways and narrow homes and TV blaring and smiley face e-mail and don't do drugs, don't do sex, don't smoke, don't eat junk food, don't don't don't because your boring, boring life, your robot march from kindergarten to grammar school to junior high to high school to college to work to the condo in Florida to the grave where you'll slowly decay for all eternity, should be nothing but leafy green vegetables and happy thoughts and G-rated lyrics about puppy love.

How many people - whether kids, teens, or adults - have felt this way? Or maybe it's just me, and I should be worried? Regardless, this expectancy and predictability of reality, the tedium of it, can be wearing on a person, and it is through fantasy books that I escape...well, books in general, but really for true escapism, I need a fantasy novel. And I love the mix with the real that Applegate has chosen.

The premise of the world created is that the gods left our world for this new one and brought (some of) their followers with them, so readers are introduced to various cultures' mythologies, and we also get to meet the followers themselves. In this book, the focus is on the Vikings, with Loki and Odin. As I said before, I do wish the book was longer. I would have really enjoyed more time with the Vikings, more depth to their culture, but what I did get to see was enough to really spark my interest.

I feel the same way about the characters: David, Jalil, Christopher, and April are quite superficially drawn in this first book, given enough personality to interest me, but not enough to make me truly care about them or understand them. Much of what I know about them comes from Applegate telling me about the characters rather than from me deducing personality from the way they reacted to situations. David, being the primary character in this installment, is of course a bit more fleshed out, and the most intriguing part of his personality is that he seems to prefer Ever World with all the danger and excitement to "reality". I liked this a lot for some reason; I guess I'm too used to the "reluctant hero" who just wishes he could stay home and be normal but must power through somehow for the good of the world. David finds this adventure exciting, and he jumps in with both feet running. show less

This will serve as my review for the entire Everworld series.

They are pretty great books, all in all. I've never encounter any writing style quite like K.A. Applegate's; she is unafraid to make almost painfully real characters and address touchy subjects with zeal. The dynamic between the four main characters, and the way it grew and shifted, was extremely interesting to follow. The clash of all the different mythologies was explosive; the author should be commended just for managing to cram the deities and cultures of so many different races into one series.

Some books were definitely better than others; there were a few that seemed to be filler books with little real development. But these were punctuated with cool, action and show more humor-filled installments, so it worked out well in the end. Everworld is a great, laid-back fantasy series to read when you want some lighter fiction that still packs plenty of punch here and there. show less

Always interested in mythology and a fan of the "Animorphs" series, I took a chance on this series from Applegate, and was pleasantly surprised. If someone asked me what I thought of it, I'd say it's weird-but-good. I read them all, and felt they were engaging enough to keep my original copies. I remember being excited for the next books to come out because I was really curious how it would all end. Definitely worth reading!

It was okay..I just started reading it because I was bored..but it was pretty interesting.The thing with parallel worlds and stuff was good.I have never hated a heroine like this.I hate Senna,who is a witch and her boyfriend the narrator of the story who is obsessed by this witch girlfriend.This girlfriend gets him,her step sister-April,friend-Jalil and ex-boyfriend-Christopher into grave trouble.The stupid boyfriend is not ready to go to the real world without finding his lovely girlfriend.Ugh!He is ready to sacrifice the life of others to save her,who brought them all here in the first place.I hate the narrator dude...apart from that,I love the other characters..the funny Vikings,April and her singing part,Christopher and his show more jokes,the extremely intelligent Jalil.The author has done an interesting job by mixing up The Aztecs or sun worshipers,The vikings,Loki and Thor.It was fun reading it.It would've been better if David was not a character in the book. show less

Ew. I thought it was awfully gory. I guess teens tend to have stronger stomachs than I do, but I'd still avoid giving this to anyone under 15. (I don't mean ban it; I just mean don't buy it for them.) I'm more like the character April - I appreciate family, and tenderness, and vegetables. However, it'd probably be a great series for a teen who spends too much time with Mature video games. I will not read the rest of the series.

I read this series as a kid and it's always resonated with me. These days I was looking for some light fiction to read before bed and thought I'd reenter the world of Everworld. And... it's pretty good! It stands up surprisingly well.

A truly brilliant take on mythology. For anyone who has ever been a fan of the religions of yore you'll be enthralled with Applegate's world of aliens and gods. My favorite series when it first came out and still one of my favorite series. The beginning of the first book is a bit difficult to get into, but once you get past that it is simply phenomenal. Applegate creates an entire world within Everworld while drawing enough from our own world so as not to entirely alienate or confuse the audience.