Title: Saving Everest
Author: Sky Chase
Publication: October 22, 2019
Publisher: Wattpad Books
Genre: Teen, YA Fiction
Pages: 360
SYNOPSIS: (From Goodreads)
From the outside, Everest has it all, but there’s only one person who can see him for who he truly is . . . and it changes his life forever.
In this tender, poignant debut novel by newcomer Sky Chase, two teenagers on the cusp of adulthood learn to embrace life in ways neither of them ever anticipated.
Everest is the most popular boy in school. He’s handsome, wealthy, and captain of the football team—he has the world at his fingertips, but he’s desperately unhappy. And when those feelings become too much to bear, he tries to take his own life.
On the surface, Beverly’s different from Everest in every possible way. She’s quiet, shy, hard working, and keeps to herself on campus, focusing on her schoolwork and her part-time job, distracting herself from her less-than-perfect upbringing.
When Everest returns to school after his attempt, he’s in more pain than ever. Discarded by his friends, he draws little empathy and too much attention from those who surround him. But when Beverly and Everest meet unexpectedly in a dusty corner of the old library, they discover together just how rich life can be when given the freedom to just be yourself.
REVIEW:
**A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**
Sky Chase is brand new to publishing a book with her debut novel, but the description of her book Saving Everest had me interested from the get go. A novel about an interracial relationship that builds into more after someone has hit rock bottom.
I love hard hitting books about topics only some authors want to talk about. Saving Everest was one of those books. It starts right off dealing with a suicide attempt by the most popular kid in school and then moved on to the depression and issues that come after a failed suicide attempt. This story was one of survival and coming of age. I loved how Chase wrote characters who were relateable, from two different socioeconomic backgrounds, and with different interests. The story flowed smooth and Everest’s recovery followed a believable timeline. The characters were likeable and a lot of what they were going through reminded me of my own teen angst issues.
While I loved a majority of the book, there was one part that did bother me. The ending came on fast. The last two to three chapters seemed like they crammed a bunch of BIG decisions into small spots and then tried to wrap it up in the last chapter very quickly and kind of on a cliffhanger. I felt like the timing of the rest of the book was so good and then the end was rushed, which left me feeling short changed and disappointed. I’d have liked that information spread out over a few more chapters at least.
Aside from that I did thoroughly enjoy this story. I felt a lot of emotions while reading and sometimes that is hard to do for me. I look forward to Sky Chase releasing her second book and will be picking it up. Everyone should read Saving Everest if they love a good hard hitting, tear jerking, coming of age story.
STAR RATING: 4/5
Pick up your copy of Saving Everest by Sky Chase on October 22 on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or your local bookstore. We encourage you to pre-order it as well. Also make sure to add it to your To Reads list on Goodreads and leave feedback for the author when you are finished.
