The Everless duology brings mythology into the mix with the story of the Alchemist and the Sorceress that everyone in Sempra knows. The stark difference between those who have to give up their blood-iron to survive and those who gain years as they drink tea astounds me. Time doesn’t matter to them, they will live forever, or at least a lot longer than the poor, because time will never run out for them. It’s that small detail, that they simply drop year-coins into their drinks, that really gets me. On the opposite side of the coin we have the upper class, those who have no need for seedy time-lenders and who put year-coins into their tea and drink the years. Jules knew her father didn’t have much time left, so she had planned on going to the time-lender herself in his stead. In Sempra it was illegal to give your blood-iron until you were 17, so at least parents couldn’t use their children’s time legally. Jules’ father refused to let her give up her blood-iron, wanting to shield her from that life, or so she thought. It’s reminiscent of the industrial age when families had to put their children to work in factories in order to make enough money to live. It is still there, though, as Jules is able to gather enough strength at key points in order to use her power to slow or stop time for short bursts, much unlike the strength she had in Everless.Ĭoncentrating more on the social status of those with time to spare, there is a stark difference in the social hierarchy in the Everless duology that Sara Holland wove into the background plot of the series that adds depth to the world she created despite it only being two books. Much like in Devil’s Thief by Lisa Maxwell, in Evermore, Jules’ usage of her power to manipulate time is diminished to almost nothing, essentially making that power moot throughout Evermore. It reminds me of the movie In Time, starring Justin Timberlake, in the best way, because it’s a super interesting concept, and making a world revolving around blood-iron that makes the year-coins brings a different look to the world created that we as readers rarely get to see in YA.īlood-iron and year-coins are merely a backdrop in the Everless duology, but it stands out to me possibly even more so than the fact that in Everless, Jules Ember can manipulate time.

One gives their time via their blood to pay for things, be it a year, or five, or perhaps more. Wealth in Sempra is determined by year-coins, made by the blood of the people of Sempra.

Everless book series