4.5/5

For fans of: middle grade YA, found families, multiple POV, lovers-to-enemies, afterlife, lost boys

Synopsis: After the events of Everlost, Nick has a new persona as the Chocolate Ogre and is on a mission to free afterlights one at a time while simultaneously fighting Mary, now the Sky Witch. Meanwhile, Allie the Outcast and Mikey, formerly known as the McGill, travel to find Allie’s family. Mary, now air-born on the Hindenburg, travels across Everlost seeking afterlights to replace all the ones she lost at the Twin Towers, but also discovers a new purpose that is bigger than she ever imagined. Nick realizes his war with Mary has become complicated and must recruit afterlights with special abilities. Allie’s relationship with Mikey grows, but as they meet other skinjackers, she discovers she is far more powerful than she thought and Mikey starts to feel left behind.

Review: Oh man this is such a fun series. The journeys and changes with each character are so well done. I also enjoyed the expanding cast as we travel to different cities with their own afterlight cultures and beliefs. And, of course, I get teary-eyed as we encountered locations of American tragedy as well as individual stories of hope. The twists and turns in the plot, however, are class Neal Shusterman. You think you know where the plot is going and he just throws a whole new level of twists. Just like the title says, its wild out here.