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3.3 AVERAGE
3.3 AVERAGE
“Are you ready for a storm?”
“I stay rain ready.”
Saving Everest is a debut Wattpad Original told from the POV of Everest and Beverly, two high school students living in Pittsburgh. It dusts over heavy subjects like depression, racism and suicide, but lacks the charisma to have a deep and meaningful effect on the reader.
I really wanted to like this book! I was prepared for it to read very much like a fanfic, but looked forward to an original story. It definitely had the levity and cheesiness of a YA book, and made me smile. The book is laced with poems and confessions at the beginning of some chapters which was a nice surprise and added to the narrative.
Beverly is the observant, intelligent and witty student who keeps to herself. She is the only black girl in the school and spends most of her time alone. Her unstable mother disappears for most of the night, clings to the idea of being young and free, and emotionally manipulates her daughter. Beverly works at a local cafe, while trying to balance high school life and her irresponsible mother.
Everest was the most popular guy in school, before attempting suicide. He was the kind and caring quarterback, but rebelled against his former image after his time in hospital. His mother, father and sister are distant, and are very much like the stereotypical wealthy family in YA fiction. He also likes to sing, which made me think of him as Troy Bolton for the most of the book.
Everest’s depression felt more like a plot tool, and and the family issues that both characters experienced were dropped in every so often and felt very cliché. I was expecting a book like this to shed light on struggles that young people face, especially with Everest’s story, but it was really glossed over. He made an attempt on his life, and returns to school a week later only to be bullied and ostracised, even by teachers. The book is called “Saving Everest”, but it didn’t really feel like he was being saved. Beverly regularly experienced racist aggressions and sexist comments in the book, but this again seemed like a plot tool. The prejudice battle she was fighting felt gimmicky, rather than moving. As a black woman, it didn’t inspire me, it didn’t hit home, it just annoyed me.
The writing was straightforward and enjoyable. There were a few scenes that felt unnecessary and more like filler paragraphs. The conversation between the characters was entertaining, but lacked the heart that made it feel authentic. The relevance of the story wavered around half-way through, and while it’s an easy book to read, I wasn’t hooked by the drama or romance. The plot twist was half a page long, and didn’t shock.
I liked most of the characters, apart from Beverly’s mother and aunt. The secondary characters like Nami, Mikey and Hadley really made the story entertaining and their personalities stood out to me more than Everest’s. They were amusing and playful, and behaved like teens/kids. I liked Beverly a lot. She was artsy, resourceful, quiet but bold, and a hard-worker. She had no privilege like Everest, but is still determined to make something of herself which was admirable. She was also kind to every person she met, handled opposition maturely, and made an effort to befriend Everest at his worst. Her positivity was refreshing.
There were definitely moments that felt unrealistic. For example, in the beginning Everest was painted as this upright guy with the perfect moral compass and a sound mind. Then he has one bad day and begins to smoke, drink, take drugs and get a tattoo. That all happened over one page and felt too rushed to be true. The thought process behind his recklessness didn’t add up, and could have been effective without being so extreme. The same goes with the whole concept of The Basement and drug use in the book, it didn’t fit, and appeared to be in there to work as a shock element.
By the end, I didn’t feel excited to see the love story come to an conclusion. I was hopeful for Beverly and Everest because I like them as a couple and I think they complement each other really well. The chemistry between them was nice to read, and because they started as friends and grew to love each other more and more, you’re rooting for them to be together. I also enjoyed reading about Beverly enjoy genuine friendships and the typical high school experience.
Saving Everest was enjoyable to read, but needed more weight to make it an affective story. I don’t think it portrayed mental illness very well, but the narrative was a good idea and the characters made it a fun book.
Read more reviews and blog posts at https://chaptersofmay.com and follow along at instagram.com/chaptersofmay ✨
“I stay rain ready.”
Saving Everest is a debut Wattpad Original told from the POV of Everest and Beverly, two high school students living in Pittsburgh. It dusts over heavy subjects like depression, racism and suicide, but lacks the charisma to have a deep and meaningful effect on the reader.
I really wanted to like this book! I was prepared for it to read very much like a fanfic, but looked forward to an original story. It definitely had the levity and cheesiness of a YA book, and made me smile. The book is laced with poems and confessions at the beginning of some chapters which was a nice surprise and added to the narrative.
Beverly is the observant, intelligent and witty student who keeps to herself. She is the only black girl in the school and spends most of her time alone. Her unstable mother disappears for most of the night, clings to the idea of being young and free, and emotionally manipulates her daughter. Beverly works at a local cafe, while trying to balance high school life and her irresponsible mother.
Everest was the most popular guy in school, before attempting suicide. He was the kind and caring quarterback, but rebelled against his former image after his time in hospital. His mother, father and sister are distant, and are very much like the stereotypical wealthy family in YA fiction. He also likes to sing, which made me think of him as Troy Bolton for the most of the book.
Everest’s depression felt more like a plot tool, and and the family issues that both characters experienced were dropped in every so often and felt very cliché. I was expecting a book like this to shed light on struggles that young people face, especially with Everest’s story, but it was really glossed over. He made an attempt on his life, and returns to school a week later only to be bullied and ostracised, even by teachers. The book is called “Saving Everest”, but it didn’t really feel like he was being saved. Beverly regularly experienced racist aggressions and sexist comments in the book, but this again seemed like a plot tool. The prejudice battle she was fighting felt gimmicky, rather than moving. As a black woman, it didn’t inspire me, it didn’t hit home, it just annoyed me.
The writing was straightforward and enjoyable. There were a few scenes that felt unnecessary and more like filler paragraphs. The conversation between the characters was entertaining, but lacked the heart that made it feel authentic. The relevance of the story wavered around half-way through, and while it’s an easy book to read, I wasn’t hooked by the drama or romance. The plot twist was half a page long, and didn’t shock.
I liked most of the characters, apart from Beverly’s mother and aunt. The secondary characters like Nami, Mikey and Hadley really made the story entertaining and their personalities stood out to me more than Everest’s. They were amusing and playful, and behaved like teens/kids. I liked Beverly a lot. She was artsy, resourceful, quiet but bold, and a hard-worker. She had no privilege like Everest, but is still determined to make something of herself which was admirable. She was also kind to every person she met, handled opposition maturely, and made an effort to befriend Everest at his worst. Her positivity was refreshing.
There were definitely moments that felt unrealistic. For example, in the beginning Everest was painted as this upright guy with the perfect moral compass and a sound mind. Then he has one bad day and begins to smoke, drink, take drugs and get a tattoo. That all happened over one page and felt too rushed to be true. The thought process behind his recklessness didn’t add up, and could have been effective without being so extreme. The same goes with the whole concept of The Basement and drug use in the book, it didn’t fit, and appeared to be in there to work as a shock element.
By the end, I didn’t feel excited to see the love story come to an conclusion. I was hopeful for Beverly and Everest because I like them as a couple and I think they complement each other really well. The chemistry between them was nice to read, and because they started as friends and grew to love each other more and more, you’re rooting for them to be together. I also enjoyed reading about Beverly enjoy genuine friendships and the typical high school experience.
Saving Everest was enjoyable to read, but needed more weight to make it an affective story. I don’t think it portrayed mental illness very well, but the narrative was a good idea and the characters made it a fun book.
Read more reviews and blog posts at https://chaptersofmay.com and follow along at instagram.com/chaptersofmay ✨