Book 8: Brave the Betrayal
Narrator: Jalil
My rating:
The EverWorld team are on their way to look for Senna’s mother, who might be powerful enough to open a portal between EverWorld and the coo-Hatch’s home world so they can go home, rather than take over EverWorld. The group is forced to flee from the Ancient Greece part of EverWorld and travel through s mysterious African landscape where nothing is as it seems and their lives are in more danger than ever.
This book is told from Jalil’s point of view. I like to think that Jalil has matured and his character has been irrevocably altered by being in EverWorld and that he no longer needs his OCD in the real world, but apparently that’s Senna’s favourite taunt. Jalil has grown and matured but he’s still thinking about EverWorld logically. He’s not becoming one with the world yet.
This book did a really good job of exploring the little known African gods and culture. With full respect, it was some of the scariest shit I’ve read. It was pretty graphic and imaginative. It was basically a story of survival in a hostile region. I just didn’t understand how the Vikings showed up out of nowhere to save the gang’s butt once again. But I guess even Senna’s power has its limits.
I also liked the cutting back and forth to the real world where Jalil seems to be the only one actually having a life. He’s dating a cute girl and saving Christopher’s ass from being beaten. In contrast to the last book, April’s real life was boring, but Jalil’s manages to still be interesting even when we’re not facing raging gods who want to eat your face.
