The Everlasting

The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow

What an excellent read! 

I loved how the story unfolded the deeper in it went, and so many of the components hit the mark:

• The groundhog-day-esque time travel aspect is really well done.
• Harrow has once again (a la Starling House) created anti-heroes in Owen and Una that you end up rooting for so desperately.
• An excellent villain. Smart, ruthless, and a step ahead.
• For a book that moves through a huge span of time and place, the storytelling is focused and doesn't lose hold of the thread. 
• Compelling magic, including mysteries about why artifacts work the way they do. 

When I finished reading and tried to think of a quick way to describe the book I came up with 'Fforde's Eyre Affair meets Arthurian Legen with a splash of Orwell's 1984.' That doesn't capture it entirely, because the characters come alive more than either of those, but there's a certain bleakness and absurdity that put those other titles in my mind. There are beats that are triumphant, and others that are absolutely heart-wrenching, with just enough genuinely funny-in-a-wry-sort-of-way moments to keep you going during the bleak bits.

All in all, I can confidently say this is likely to be one of my favorite reads of the year, even though I read it early in the year. The Everlasting is a book for those who like stories of magic, finding each other again and again in time, and wrenching one's destiny into a path of your own choosing.