Everlasting by Angie Frazier, Review by K. Bird Lincoln
Pretty New Release!
Camille is going for one, last trip with her father on one of their shipping lines before facing marriage to a wealthy and eligible man in San Francisco society.
A storm changes all her plans.
Along with Oscar, the not-so-eligible, but ever-so-much-more-attractive first mate, they will weather thugs, Australian outback, and magic to find Camille's birth mother and Umandu, a mythical stone.
I never got into this book very deeply. At first look, it has many elements I thought I would love: a forbidden love, a quest in a historically interesting time period of Australia with nice details, and a magic element.
However, while I can't really point to the writing (fine) characters (interesting) or plot (has mystery but nothing special) and say this is where the book fell down for me, as a whole, I found myself not really invested in the characters or their quest.
Camille and Oscar had some nice interactions, but their coming together was so predicable despite his lack of money that I didn't enjoy their dance all that much. Camille's interaction with the mother she never knew was too quick to be satisfying, as well as the abrupt about face of her half brother from "I don't trust you" to "I'll save you now." The gimmicky tendency of Ira (their guide) to spout strange exclamations didn't work for me.
Still, I did find that Camille's POV, especially when encountering flora/fauna of Australia she had no knowledge of was very convincing.
This Book's Food Designation Rating: Macaroni and Cheese for a reliable but not-quite-as-exciting as you would think read.
