[Book Review] Nevertell by Katharine Orton

Synopsis (from Goodreads) :

A gorgeous, snowy adventure, set in the wilds of Siberia, full of magic and wonder, for junior readers. 

Born in a Soviet prison camp, Lina has never seen the world outside until the night she escapes with her best friend, Bogdan. As the pair journey across a snowy wilderness, they are pursued by a vengeful sorceress and her pack of shadow wolves. The children will need every ounce of courage – and a whisper of magic – if they are to survive…

My rating :

4.5/5 stars.

My review :

Nevertell is another middle grade book for me that I surprisingly enjoyed. I was not expecting it to be such a good read for me, but it did become one of the reads that I genuinely enjoy and show my sincerest interest in. Here are my thoughts on why I think this book managed to grasp my attention wonderfully.

I shall begin with the plot. The story began with Lina, who was escaping from her Soviet prison camp with her best friend. For me, it sounded dark at first, but the magical part did appear as I meandered through the story. In my opinion, Lina’s adventure felt surreal and exceptionally dark for a twelve-year-old girl like her. It was intriguing, especially when she was about to discover more about herself (read: the story of her life) and her capabilities (read: magic). It was something that made me look forward to whenever I read this book. On the other hand, the plot was positively enjoyable for me as it became more and more intense when I got myself deeper into the story. It gave the idea of imagining magical and beautiful yet magnificently dark stuff while reading it, and that idea definitely made reading this book pleasurable.

Besides that, I loved the family and friendship aspects in this book. I would like to thank the author for emphasizing these important aspects in a middle grade book, as it would give a great lesson to not only the young readers, but anyone who is reading it, too. Even though the family relationships in this book were a bit complicated, it gave a sense of relief that the author brought the issue up, as it was not something common in the real world, but it definitely was not impossible to happen.

Overall, I had no problem with the plot when I was reading it and I could see it as something that middle graders – or anyone, really – would enjoy.

Let us move on to the characters. For a twelve-year-old protagonist, my verdict for Lina was she would not be as strong and as capable as I wanted her to be. Oh boy, was I positively wrong. Lina’s character was strong with her very own way. She was an interesting character who had no idea about her magical powers and all the secrets behind her back. For someone her age, I loved how she slowly developed her skills and definitely got better into them. As the main character, I saw her as an agreeable character, yet I solemnly believed that she could have gotten more character developments just to make her story more interesting than it already is. Meanwhile, some other characters in this book were under the same comment as Lina’s, too. They were all agreeable with their own stories. However, there were certain characters that I felt, could have more spotlight, and they are the villains. I honestly wish the villains could be more superior to the point that they were good enough to appear as the bad people in this story.

Lastly, I will focus on the author’s writing style. As for the writing style, I sincerely loved the way Katharine played with her writing skills and her words usage. It was not poetically beautiful, but it was intense yet thoroughly well explained. I personally did not have any problem with her style of writing this story and I do hope that other reads will feel the same way, too.

All in all, Nevertell would offer readers of all ages, magic, adventure, heartfelt families and friends bonding, and many more. If you are looking for a dark setting yet agreeable story, Nevertell would be a good book for you.

My final rating for this book is 4.5/5 stars. Thank you, Pansing @definitelybooks, for sending this ARC to me in exchange for an honest review. This book will hit the bookstores in November 2019.