Sir Una Everlasting was Dominion’s greatest hero: the orphaned girl who became a knight, who died for queen and country. Her legend lives on in songs and stories, in children’s books and recruiting posters―but her life as it truly happened has been forgotten.

Centuries later, Owen Mallory―failed soldier, struggling scholar―falls in love with the tale of Una Everlasting. Her story takes him to war, to the archives―and then into the past itself. Una and Owen are tangled together in time, bound to retell the same story over and over again, no matter what it costs.

But that story always ends the same way. If they want to rewrite Una’s legend―if they want to tell a different story–they’ll have to rewrite history itself.

The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow is evocative and sweeping, a tale of love and about the very nature of stories and legends. Both Owen and Una are compelling and sympathetic characters that are easy to fall in love with and I found the use of time manipulation absolutely brilliant as Una and Owen fight to find a way to rewrite their story. 

There are incredible elements used in the novel. Alix E. Harrow uses the ideas of legends, stories and narrative to create something unique in The Everlasting but she also explores themes of power, abuse, manipulation and freedom. What does it mean to be free and how can you know you are if you are manipulated by the ones who are supposed to love you best?  I loved how she explores the themes of gender expectations and parents throughout this beautiful novel. 

This is such a rich and beautiful story that it is impossible to describe entirely. But it is deeply evocative and sweeping as stories beget stories and the narrative circles around over and over as history rewrites itself multiple times in this fascinating time travel story using not science, but magic with the heart of the story all about the power of love. 

Rating: 5 out of 5 seeds. 

MacMillan Publishing

Alix E. Harrow website