Synopsis:
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.
Review:
Reading The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow felt simultaneously familiar, but also like something I’d never read before. The story took me on an emotional journey that I didn’t expect — a journey that Harrow’s two protagonists didn’t even expect. I thoroughly enjoyed Una and Owen’s story and I highly suspect that this book will hold up to multiple re-reads with plenty to discover each time around.
Now, I found many surprises in the novel, even after I prepped for reading The Everlasting. A few months back, I knew I was going to be reading The Everlasting, but hadn’t read any Harrow books before. A friend recommended that I read The Six Deaths of the Saint, a short story that Harrow published in 2022, telling me they had heard that Harrow was expanding that story into this new novel.
And…yes. The story and the novel share similar roots and heart, but ultimately The Everlasting is very much its own story. I’m definitely glad I read the short story first, but Harrow didn’t feel beholden to the characters or storyline when she worked on The Everlasting.
There is a ton that could be spoiled if I go too deep into the plot of this book, but this is a timeless love story between a legendary warrior and the man who studied her history. Romance is woven throughout the story, but that’s not how it starts. There is a fair amount of mystery as Una and Owen peel back layer after layer after layer of their own story through many times through it. And of course, Una’s own story is central to the entire identity of a nation hundreds of years in the future, so there is a healthy amount of action central to the plot.
I’ve read more than a couple of time loop books over the last few years and The Everlasting may pull it off the best, which says a lot considering Harrow is tackling it from a fantasy perspective, not sci-fi. The story is largely told from a second-person POV, which is…tough to do, and once again, Harrow does it better here than any other book I’ve read that has tried. The writing and words she uses just charm the reader as she takes you on a magical and romantic voyage through time and emotion.
After reading The Everlasting, I’ll definitely be giving more of Alix E. Harrow’s books a try. I found myself utterly captivated by his novel and just had to keep reading even after bedtime to see if Harrow gave our heroes the happy ending they so richly deserved. By the time the final page came, I could see many endings for Una and Owen and frankly would have been content with any number of them. No matter what, this is one of my favorite books of 2025 and will fondly remember my time with it.
Thank you to Tor Books for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
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