Brody Fair is suffocating. He's falling behind at school and has no real plan for the future. His brother is a genius who spends every spare millisecond cramming his head full of knowledge so he can get into a good university. His father has agoraphobia and hasn't left the house in years. His mother takes on as many shifts as she can and is completely overwhelmed and exhausted. To make matters worse, Brody is bullied on a daily basis by a couple of girls who verbally attack him on a daily basis. When Brody meets Nico, everything changes. Nico introduces Brody to Everland, a magical world that exists in a kind of parallel universe in their home city of Edinburgh. In Everland, Brody meets like-minded people and can be himself. With Nico he feels free to explore his feelings and do what he loves most, drumming, making music and sitting in quiet. There is a catch to Everland, though. Brody can only visit it once a week, and he only has a limited time to enjoy it. There is a temptation, though, to leave his seemingly crumbling real world behind and stay in Everland forever. Brody finds himself faced with a choice that will alter his future forever. Last Bus to Everland is a stellar novel that covers several topics facing teens today in a subtle but very effective way. The pressure to succeed at school, poverty, mental illness, coming out, bullying and finding out who you want to be are all part of Brody's journey. You will feel for Brody, you'll want to join him in Edinburgh and tell him everything's going to be ok. Nico is a character that is also confused and troubled in different ways, with Brody he finds some kind of solace and you will be rooting for them as you fly through the pages of this novel. The relationship between Brody and his family were some of my favourite parts of the novel. Brody doesn't feel like he really knows his siblings and it takes a few traumatic events for him to have important conversations with them, especially his brother. He loves his father but can't help feeling resentment about the fact that he doesn't work, forcing his mother to have no life outside of her job. It's a very well written dynamic, the idea that haunts a lot of people with mental illness, that they should just "get over it" and get on with their lives. It's never that simple. The depiction of Everland itself is beautiful and haunting at the same time. It's in this dreamlike fog of bliss that Brody gets some respite from the pressure cooker that his home life. I really recommend Last Bus to Everland, it's a superb novel that will tear your heart out, but in a good way. Don't miss it.
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