Customer Reviews

Search for Senna (Everworld #1)

5 star:		(96)
4 star:		(37)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I got this book for Christmas about 5 years ago, and at the time I didn't really even plan to read it. It didn't seem interesting to me, and I was starting to grow out of all these kiddie books. But, a while back, I was looking for something to do, so I just decided what the heck, I'll give it a try. As soon as I got started, I could not put it down. I read the whole thing within 2 days.

This is a great story. It's full of depth and meaning, and the imagery is just amazing. You'll really feel like you're in this book as you read it. The story is of 3 high school kids, who are taken to this parallel world. One of the kids, David, is trying to find his girlfriend, Senna, who was also taken to this other world. As they search, they encounter a wide variety of beings, such as giant animals, Norse gods, vikings, even Aztecs. This world seems to be a refuge for past civilations that have all but vanished from modern society. Stranger yet, the kids seem to be living two lives. They are in this other world, but every time they fall asleep, they cross back over into the real world. It's like they're in both places at once.

The interesting thing about this is the effect that it has on David, the main character. The story is told from his perspective, and as he lives this double life, he begins to realize that life in the "real world" is rather pointless by comparison. These people in this other world are fighting in wars, working hard to survive, and meanwhile we are going about boring, mundane lives with no real point. David slowly realizes that this other life in this other world is where he wants to be. Here, he's a warrior going into battle. Back home, he's just a punk kid who goes to high school and works at a coffee shop. The experience changes him, and we see that through his eyes.

Perhaps I've said too much, but this is a really great book. I think high school kids are the target audience, but I think anyone could enjoy this. The book has an exerpt of the second part in the series, and I noticed that the perspective has changed to one of the other characters. I was puzzled at first, but I'm guessing that in each book, the story is told from different perspectives to show the effect these experiences have on each character. It may complicate things a bit, but that's a pretty cool idea.

All in all, I really enjoyed this, and I'd really like to check out the rest of the series. This isn't up there with the likes of Tolkien and Arthur C. Clarke, but it makes for a quick and engaging read.

Applegate's Animorphs and Everworld series share a similar demographic base with R.L. Stine's Goosebumps and Fear Street books (both by Scholastic, which also publishes J.K. Rowling). Applegate, though, is the better writer by a long shot. That said, I have yet to develop a serious interest in the hugely popular Animorphs. I felt the series was entirely too device rather than plot-driven (the device being kids who, thanks to extraterrestrial influences, could change--or "morph"--into animals).

But I'm a big fan of its less-appreciated older sibling, Everworld. It begins with her racially balanced gang of suburban kids getting transported into an alternate universe, a kind of dumping ground for all the old world mythological gods. After that, it turns into a serial novel in the true sense of the old B-movie Hollywood cliffhangers: quick, easy reads, snappy dialog and lots of action verbs. It's a formula that reminds me of a comment by Kurosawa on the writing of Hidden Fortress: every morning he'd think up a real fix to get his hero and heroine into, and it'd be up to his writing staff to figure out a way to get them out of it.

Applegate does have. A tendency. To use way too many. Periods. And either Applegate or her publisher (Scholastic) decided that no one gets to really swear, so we're too often left with those television cuss-word approximations. I say, either use the real words, or take it out. The compromise is just annoying.

Otherwise, she does a good job with capturing teen sensibilities in impossible situations. She sticks to a strict POV, but rotates it book to book (as she does in Animorphs). It provides a Rashomon-like perspective on her characters' internal and interpersonal conflicts. She then seasons her prose with just enough teen angst and contrariness to make her teens' inner lives compelling and realistic, without coming across as self-absorbed and annoying.

And she has done her homework. It's not the forum where you expect a textbook approach to the subject, but pay attention and you will learn a good deal about world mythological traditions.

Taken as a whole, Everworld ultimately proves a point that needs proving more often: try to be profound on purpose, and you'll end up sounding shallow; start out by telling a good story and the profundities emerge on their own. Although her teens' hang-ups and foibles occasionally have that After School Special feel to them, by keeping the plot pounding along like a herd of stampeding elephants Applegate staves off unnecessary and self-indulgent wallowing, and ends up saying a whole lot more about life than you would have imagined possible in this genre.

This book had me hooked from the start. I was first drawn to the series because I'm into horror,fantasy, and mythology, and the series is an interesting combination of all three. You have 5 totally different people and how each one feels and reacts to a life less ordinary. I highly recommend the series to anyone.

So...you want to know about my book, huh? Well, first of all, its name is "Ever World: Search For Senna. I give this book a 5 (highest number). "Why?" you ask. Well, it's a very good book that I would recommend to anyone my age. There are brutal scenes where people get killed and a little obscenity, but overall it is still a great book. If I were asked, "Who was your favorite character?", I would have to say: April. The reason for this is because she is the sister of Senna-the person they were searching for. She is considered pretty, but not as pretty as Senna. She can be very spunky whenever she gets annoyed by one of the guys. She was also the only girl there and became very brave when the others were scared. She gave the story a little comedy at times whenever someone said something smart or stupid. My least favorite person in the story would have to be Jalil. He didn't have many lines or things to say, or perhaps he was just very quiet. The best part that kept me on the edge of my seat was when the four- April, David, Christopher, and Jalil- fell into Ever World and tried to escape from Loki. They were chased by snakes, rhinos, and guards.This book has a lot of sides to it- it was suspenseful, funny, terrifying, and romantic. I would recommend this book to anyone of the age of 14 years and up because there are a few words of obscenity in it. I'm sure that they would enjoy it as much as I did. I think the author, K.A. Applegate, really put a lot of thought into this book even though this is the first of her books that I've read. I liked her style of writing and I'm sure you would too if you read this book.

When I first saw Everworld was written by Applegate, I almost didn't by it for the fact that she was the same author who wrote the Animorphs, a seriers which my little sister reads. I was afraid Everworld was going to be geared twords a middle school audience. I'm 16, a sophmore in high school, and read adult fanticy and science fiction, but I'm here to say I absolutly fell in love with the Everworld series. Applegate goes well indepth with her caracters, and her words paint a picture so vivid one feels as though they are right along with the characters fighting trolls or entertaining Vikings. I have noticed many younger readers complain about Applegate's use of language, but I for one though am quite thankful she doesn't shy away from adult subjects. The cursing she uses isn't excessive and is done tastfully adding reality and humor to the dialogue. I can understand though how younger readers may be ofended.

A warning though- when I bought the first couple of books I had no idia it would be a series of twelve. I now own all but the last, for each book is as good or more wonderful than the last. Don't read this first one though if you don't plan on reading the others because from the very begining you will be hooked! And do read them inorder. Each book will make so much more sence if you do. My only wish is that the actual books were longer. This series truly is unique, complex, suspensful, and just plan fun to read! Don't shy away from it just because you're an adult or in high school:)

Being the new kid at school is hard, especially when you don't fit in. But all David's problems seem to fade the moment he meets Senna. She was beautiful and different and nothing else in his life seemed to matter any more. How was David to know that when Senna disappeared, swallowed by the Earth, he would be forced to follow and bring her back? That's how he ended up in Everworld. A place that shouldn't exist, where nightmares are real and creatures of myth and legend roam freely. Now David, April, Jalil and Christopher are trapped between worlds. And they have no idea how to get home...

"Search For Senna" is the first book in KA Applegate's Everworld series. Before I began reading, I had expected something a lot more like Animorphs, but this series is completely different. The characters are older, the plot is darker, more complicated and the book is definitely targeted at a more grown-up audience. Some people complain about the number of swear words in these books: it doesn't bother me. The amount isn't excessive and the language is used realistically and effectively. The books are written for a teenage audience and subsequently contain more adult material.

The Everworld books are incredibly imaginative and are an example of some of the best young adult fantasy around. The descriptions are vivid, the action non-stop and the author paints a clear picture of Everworld that draws you in from the first moment. These books are fast-paced and will keep the reader hooked throughout. The characters are well drawn and realistic and even though I don't really find them very likeable at this stage, their personalities may change over the course of the series. After reading this I will definitely be buying the remaining eleven books in the series. I recommend "Search for Senna" to teens who like fantasy and to the older Animorph fans.

~**Jenna**~

As a young adult librarian, I chose to read "Everworld" and was pleasantly surprised with it. The first book is told through the eyes of David who is sucked into Everworld with his school-mates Christopher, Jalil, and April while trying to find Senna, April's sister and David's girlfriend. What happens to them soon after borders on the insane as they go from hanging on the wall of a castle to daring escapes from the castle, almost being eaten by a snake the size of an L-Train, and sailing with Vikings to attack Aztecs.

One thing I particularly enjoyed about this book was the notion of a "sub-universe." When the four would fall asleep in Everworld, they would wake in the real world and go about their business. Something in Everworld would wake them up and they would go back to what they were doing before they fell asleep. They were living in both worlds at the same time, meaning that they would go to school and work in real life, and at the same time, be in Everworld. How this is possible is not explained in this volume, but perhaps other volumes.

This was a fun read. Other reviews mention vulgar language and sexual innuendos, but I found none of this. This was a story written by a teen, for teens and it comes off as just that. I would recommend this book for teens looking for a good story with a kick of the unreal, unheard of, and unearthly.

I just finished reading Search for Senna and I had to come comment. Originally, I only bought it because I'd heard some people talking about it and figured I ought to at least know what they were discussing. I started flipping through the first couple of pages and found myself completely hooked. The book has just the right blend of scifi and reality that made me read it in a day. Each of the characters was well described, but Senna was the most interesting. She's mysterious, intelligent, and beautiful. David is captivated with her, but will she be his doom or his salvation, as the new kid in town and the new kid in Viking civilization? Many people have voiced concerns over the cursing in the books. Basically, there are two ways to curse: you can curse just to say the word or you can curse to provide emphasis. K.A. Applegate's characters aren't cursing just because they enjoy, or she enjoys, saying the words. In fact, I only remember one curse word in the first book, and only that because the scene was so powerful and memorable that I can quote the entire page. The only downfall to this book is that I now have to go get the rest of them :-)

Quite possibly the best book K.A. has put out to date. It's so real, in a fantasy sort of way. I mean, the kids seem real, the Vikings and the Aztecs act and talk the way you would expect them to, (Although, they all speak English, perhaps we'll find out later on.) and the descriptions are breath taking. If your not busy being on your last nerve, wondering who or what is going to try to kill David and his friends, you'll be marvelling at the way Applegate seems to put your mind into EverWorld.

What can I say? I'm so impressed. First animorphs, now EverWorld. This book is so good. Every Animorphs fan should read this. I'm a big Animorphs fan, but I have to admit that this new series is even better than Animorphs. This book is exciting the whole way. I love this book. Here is some information about EverWorld:

A thousand years ago humans believed in the Gods of myth, in the great legends, in dragons and trolls and elves and wizards. So, what if they were right? What if all these myths were real? Well, you'd ask, If Thor and Apollo, dragons and dwarves were all real, where are they now? The answer is . . . Everworld.

asically, we have gods of mischief and war and love and death; we have dragons and unicorns, witches and dwarves; we have Vikings and Spartans and Aztecs; we have aliens and their own weird pantheons; we have politics played on a supernatural chessboard; we have both mortal and immortal romance; we have rock-em, sock-em action; we have flawed, messed-up heroes; and most frightening of all, we have high school. That's EVERWORLD. n the dark past, Zeus and Odin, Huitzilopoctli and Ra, and the other gods of myth decided to abandon the real world. They created another universe where magic rules, where all the mystery and terror of these capricious immortals holds sway. It is a place where Vikings still sail in the name of Thor, where the Aztecs still make human sacrifices to Huitzilopoctli, and where Merlin still weaves his subtle webs. or a thousand years and more EVERWORLD has existed apart from the real world. But now Everworld is in trouble. The cozy universe created by Earth's ancient immortals has been invaded by the creatures of myths that are no part of human tradition. The gods are under attack, divided, terrified. And in this moment of supreme danger, Loki, Norse god of evil, reaches across the barrier between Everworld and the real world to seize a new power: Senna Wales.

Senna carries with her four ordinary high school kids from the Midwest. David, the insecure hero and Senna's love; Christopher, the joker Senna spurned, who hides his own anger and bigotry beneath a glib veneer; Jalil, cold, calculating and so devoted to rationality he can't even acknowledge his own strange tie to Senna; and April, Senna's half-sister -- actress, flirt, and Senna's most dangerous enemy.

s Senna good or evil or some combination of the two? David, Christopher, Jalil and April may die trying to find out.

Here is some information only about this book:

David's life was pretty normal. School. Friends. Girlfriend. Actually, Senna was probably the oddest aspect of his life. She was beautiful. Smart. But there was something very different about her. Something strange. And on the day it began, everything happened so quickly. One moment, Senna was with him. The next, she was swallowed up by the earth. Her screams echoing from far, far away. David couldn't just let her go. Neither could the others. His friends - and hers. So, they followed. And found themselves in a world they never could have imagined.

Now they have to find Senna and get home without losing their lives. Or their minds. Or both...