Category
Young Adult; LGBTQ+; Fantasy
Pages
288 (Paperback)
Summary
“Brody Fair feels like nobody gets him: not his overworked parents, not his genius older brother, and definitely not the girls in the projects set on making his life miserable. Then he meets Nico, an art student who takes Brody to Everland, a “knock-off Narnia” that opens its door at 11:21pm each Thursday for Nico and his band of present-day misfits and miscreants.
Here Brody finds his tribe and a weekly respite from a world where he feels out of place. But when the doors to Everland begin to disappear, Brody is forced to make a decision: He can say goodbye to Everland and to Nico, or stay there and risk never seeing his family again.”
Rating
6/10
Review
Do you love Peter Pan? Do you love diverse characters? Then this book is made for you!
I love seeing how Young Adult and children’s books include more and more diverse characters: disabled characters, characters of all races, sexual orientations, genders, etc. This is a big sign that our world is changing, and I love it! Last Bus to Everland is definitely one of these, with characters with all sorts of backgrounds. I know I would’ve loved being able to read this kind of books when I was younger. But enough with the nostalgia!
The thing is, though Last Bus to Everland charmed me with its range of characters, it sometimes felt like there were too many clichés in this novel. I liked the book, generally speaking; I had fun reading it and, after all, that is all that matters. However, I think that the idea of a magic world, though very interesting, was a bit underdeveloped. And so were Brody’s issues.
It’s hard to explain, but I feel like the author wanted to include so many diverse characters that, at some point, it felt like there were just too many storylines, and just one that was fully developed (Brody’s). Meanwhile, his brother’s, parents’, best friends’ storylines are barely touched upon, and felt a touch too hurried for me. There are so many interesting topics (agoraphobia, eating disorders, depression, etc.) that deserved to be talked about more!
All in all, when I closed the book, I had a taste of ”not enough”. Yes, I enjoyed the book, but. But this magic world deserved more explanations. But Brody’s issues were solved a touch too easily. But all these amazing characters, I wanted to know more about them!
To sum things up, I’d say that it is a really good summer read (especially if you like Peter Pan, as it is full of references to J.M. Barrie’s world!), though I definitely expected more from it.
To Read If…
Peter Pan is one of your favourite books, and if you want to get lost in a magical and diverse world (all of this with a Scottish accent)
