A review by faithd
Evergreen by Devin Greenlee

3.0

Ugh I'm torn with this book. On the one hand, I absolutely adored the plot and the main character (Quill). A teenage dryad who is the only male dryad and doesn't have any powers so he kinda feels like an outcast in his family, but he's also been sheltered from the world - I LOVE it! And then he meets a human boy and has an adorable and sweet coming of age sort of romance?? This just has loads and loads of potential. But as other reviewers have stated, it really needed some developmental edits.

For one thing, there is a lot of cliché dialog. I mean, it's YA so I expect some cliché dialog, but this was...excessive. Also, the pacing felt a little...inconsistent maybe? Or unrealistic? For example (slight spoiler):

Spoiler

there was this very concerning thing happening with Quill's family garden (and the LIFESOURCE of the dryads), but Quill just seemed content to put that on the back burner while he worried over his new relationship with Liam. And the resolution of the whole lifesource-garden-break-in mystery felt a bit rushed and strange to me

Also, I felt Liam's character was underdeveloped compared to Quill and his sister, and even his mother. And as the love interest with so much on page time it hurt the development of the romantic relationship.

Overall though, I'm glad I read this. I think it's really good for a debut book. I hope Devin Greenlee continues to put out books because he has some wonderful and creative ideas.