I really just struggled to connect with this one, if I’m being honest.

I usually understand why teenagers don’t communicate certain things with the adults in their lives in fiction, but I could not for the life of me understand why Quill didn’t tell his mum about the break in right away.

As for the rest…the romance was kinda cute but I felt like the characters were under developed and the dryad lore and magic system were even less developed, which left me bored overall.

This was such a cute book! I absolutely adore Liam and Quill. There love story is one for the ages. I found this book to be so unique and unexpected and I loved the representation that was present throughout the book. The world building for this book was done so well, I love the idea of a pocket dimension garden, I absolutely would have spent all my time in it I had one. Plus, the plot twist at the end! I totally never saw it coming. I commend the author for this absolutely adorable romance and would highly recommend this to someone who loves LGBTQ+ romances, gardening, and a bit of mysterious intrigue.

M/M, YA fantasy romance. This book was honestly great! The flow and pacing of the story were also great. There was never a dull moment and I really love the progression of the relationship between Quill and Liam. I think the two characters are adorable and I wish the story was longer but anyway, it ended well and those plot twists were not forced; I like how they were gradually unraveled as I was reading through. I actually got a bit terrified when the mother revealed what might have caused all the trouble. Like...what the hell could it be then???

I don't know if this is a plot hole but Liam mentioned that he was allergic to flowers that he even closed Liam's windows because the scent reached his place but when Quill brought him to their garden, he seemed fine that's why I thought he was lying, contributing to the fact that he might be the bad guy. (Edit: this is not a plot hole. I forgot a part in the book and this was answered)

💎 Thank you Netgalley and Devin Greenlee for the eARC copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book just didn't work for me- it didn't feel like the characters were actually teenagers.

The lore of the dryads was interesting, but the characters felt flat to me.

I wanted to enjoy this book. There were so many great concepts that were either left unexplored, rushed through, or abandoned completely. The romance took the front seat of a story that needed world-building and magic-building. I found myself not even caring about the characters because their development was so lacking. It had the potential to be so good and the beginning of something great. If there is a second book, I would be very wary to give it another chance.

I just reviewed Evergreen by Devin Greenlee. #Evergreen #NetGalley

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.

Quill is 17 and raring to explore the world around him. The only problem? He's half-human and half-dryad, and his mom is supremely overprotective. When Liam moves in next door, Quil's world begins to open up, bringing with it new excitements and new dangers. Is he responsible for the weird things going on in Quill's family's garden?

I found this book to be charming and delightful. The characters were vibrant and real. I do think it isn't quite enemies to lovers, but veers more into insta love between two of the characters. I'm not a huge fan of that trope, but it isn't too worrisome in this book. It is balanced well. Overall, this was just fun to read and the pacing was just right!

Evergreen is a young adult fantasy romance novel about Quill, a half-human half-dryad who has spent his entire life contained to the home he shares with his magical mother and older sister, and Liam, a human boy who moves into the spare apartment with his absent father. Quill has never developed full dryad powers, so his mother has insisted that he stay inside the house until he is old enough or developed enough to protect himself from the humans who she is convinced will be a threat to him. However, Quill has longed to escape the house and learn more about the outside world. When Liam and his father move next door, Quill finds himself intrigued by the other boy, whose days are filled with school and modern technology and social media, who seemingly can go wherever he wants whenever he wants. As the two boys grow closer together, though, Quill begins discovering that there is something deeply wrong with the secret garden from which his family derives their power. He longs for freedom, but he knows that he has a duty to protect his family and their secrets.

Of course the main character, Quill was quite well-developed: he is well-rounded enough to feel like a true teenager. He has personal goals and values, he has his own talents and knowledge and proves himself to be quite capable during some of the high tension moments of the novel, but he often demonstrates a lack of self-awareness and willpower that makes him believable as a teenage boy. I know I’m not exactly the target audience for this one – I generally prefer my main characters to have a little more knowledge and maturity. I still liked Quill, though, and I appreciated the effort put into the realism of the characters. I also really liked Quill’s mother and older sister – they both were written to be a little more emotionally stable, while still having moments of short-sightedness. However, when mistakes were made, they were able to acknowledge and reflect on those mistakes, and overall the relationship within their family felt meaningful and realistic.

I have to admit that I was a little disappointed with the worldbuilding in this one. The little bit that we got was compelling – there was a lot of time and thought put into the dryads’ powers and history, and I loved the way they interacted with plants, as well as the clear limitations placed on their powers. However, we get absolutely no worldbuilding outside of the world of the dryads, and I really wish the world had been filled out more to dive it more depth. We don’t hear about any other magical creatures, and while we know from a passing comment that there are other dryads in the world, we never see any evidence of this. Instead, the magic seems to be limited to Quill’s family alone. I wish there had been more history, more of a sense of scale, and a wider view of the magical world. I know that Quill doesn’t have that perspective, but his mother and sister should be able to give us pieces of a bigger world.

In all, I’ll give Evergreen a 7 out of 10. The straightforward plot and simple worldbuilding seems aimed for middle school or high school readers, and I do think readers of that age looking for a cute romance in a fantasy setting will enjoy this one. Readers looking for a little more complexity though should probably try something different.

Evergreen is only in the loosest sense a reimagining of The Secret Garden, which was the main point of interest for me personally going into it, but at this point I take most comps with a grain of salt anyway. (This book is also a lesson in not judging based solely off of covers because for some reason I went into this thinking it was sapphic??)

Honestly, though, Evergreen is an urban fantasy coming of age story that leans heavily into a romance between Quill, the first male druid and a bit of a Rapunzel character, and Liam, the boy next door. Quill is tasked with taking care of his family’s magical garden while he struggles to come to terms with the fact that he’s 17 and hasn’t shown any magical capabilities of his own.

Quill is stubborn and selfish, sarcastic and incredibly bitter, yet so fully naive at times. I tend to really enjoy unlikable narrators and he definitely fits the bill, though I can’t tell if it was intentional or not. For most of the book the fact that Quill was just a teenager who made stupid or silly decisions felt like a nice change, but there’s a point where you expect the main character to grow. With Quill that switch comes late and sudden when I’d have thoroughly enjoyed a slow build. Outside of that he was sometimes very inconsistent with his narration in a way that doesn’t feel intentional. Something about him stumbling his way through the human world was just so fun to read, though what he knew and didn’t know felt like this part of his character could have benefited from being a little more thought out.

There were also times when the information he was conveying was inconsistent as well. He’d wax poetic about how he knew every inch of the garden in one chapter, then the next introduce a room he’s never been allowed inside of, then the next reveal that he hardly ever strayed past the front of the garden actually, and a few chapters later complain that he’d walked every inch of it a hundred times over the years. That inconsistency existed in other areas of the writing too, creating plot holes and convenient excuses that were difficult to ignore. I found myself fact checking (tap water does have chlorine in it more often than not and like 90% of gummy worms aren’t vegan) and constantly flipping back and forth to make sure that I wasn’t actually crazy and that there were direct contradictions happening.

That said, getting to read a story based around a family of dryads was interesting and the fantasy elements built into the world were very soft and generally fun and easy to understand. I think the soft world building was the most developed part of the story and allowed for moments that genuinely shone in my opinion. It stayed consistent in ways the other parts of the writing just didn’t.

Honestly, this book just needed another round or two of edits and some more in-depth development. The idea is solid and there are parts that made me want to like the whole book far more than I did. For instance, the ‘big bad’ and the last quarter of the book? Imagining someone just walking into town and finding that situation? Fantastic creeping horror idea. It’s going to haunt me, genuinely. (I’m trying to avoid spoilers so bad, guys.)

There are scenes that shine and the bones to a really great story, but in the end there just wasn’t enough development. I think Greenlee could do some really cool things in the future, this debut was just a little too rushed. It would have benefited from some more eyes on it and another draft, but he’s an author I’ll be keeping an eye on for sure.

[I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Huge thanks to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for this ARC.]

Received an ARC from Netgalley and really hoped to like it. I really enjoyed the relationship between Quill and Liam. The middle of the story fell really flat to me. It felt like it dragged on and on. Towards the end, it picked up and got exciting but then it ended and felt rushed. I wish there was just more to it. Overall okay.

This is a very solid debut, and one that I will be recommending to people. I think this did romance-heavy fantasy really well, making the fantasy element accessible and fun, and the romance super cute and heartfelt.

I do think there was a little bit of a tonal shift around the 80% mark. Up until then the book was mostly focused on the romance and on Quill wanting more freedom. Then around 80% the main mystery is solved and it sets a bunch of events in motion. This part of the story felt fresh and enjoyable, but it also felt rushed. I would have enjoyed the book even more if this last part of the book had been fleshed out a little more.

I really enjoyed the concept of this story. I had many theories about what was happening and who was involved and I was happy to see that I wasn't entirely correct. I felt like the overall story was enjoyable.

However, I immediately disliked Quill as the main character; unfortunately, he did not grow on me. I know that he is a teenager and he is supposed to be moody, make decisions that aren't in his best interest, and to be selfish, but I feel like these characteristics were taken to an extreme and I didn't enjoy that.
With that said, I do not think the story would have worked if he was any other way. So, while it was something that made it difficult for me to enjoy, it did make the story work and that is what a character should do, in my opinion.

There was at least one inaccuracy in the story. I made note of one, but there might be others. <spoiler>Chapter 29- the chapter opens by saying Quill and Liam haven't seen each other for a few days, but have been texting non-stop. A few pages later Quill thinks that he needs to focus on the Liam in front of him, not the one he felt pressing up against him in the water last night. </spoiler> It is nothing major, just something I noticed.

Overall, if you are looking for a YA with an interesting story. I recommend this one.

Sadly, I felt like I had to dnf.
In the beginning of the book Quill and his sister find out that someone night be ruining something very important to their WHOLE BLOODLINE is in danger. Yet, after that we are so focus on Quill and Liam relationship that we almost never talk about the break in again.

It was nice reading about Liam helping Quill into the "real world" but I was getting bored of it.
If the story focused more on the garden being tampered with then I would be more interested in the book...

Thank you, NetGalley for this ARC.


The beginning of this book was a bit confusing, the way the main character was first presented made me feel like we were already supposed to know who he was. However, once a proper introduction unfolded, the narrative picked up quite nicely. The chapters flowed effortlessly, and their lengths were just right, ensuring I remained engaged throughout.

The chemistry between Quill and Liam sparkled from the outset, and I found the scenes depicting their relationship particularly endearing. Quill's vivid descriptions of Liam's smile often brought a smile to my own face.

Yet, I encountered some discrepancies in Quill's understanding of the human world, especially towards the conclusion. His sudden proficiency seemed inconsistent, considering that just a week prior in the plot, he struggled with something as basic as putting on a seatbelt. Additionally, the revelation of his powers felt hurried, reminiscent of reading fan fiction rather than a well-crafted novel.

The scenes involving Azazel lacked the emotional depth I anticipated, and Quill's repetitive self-blame, while characteristic of a teenager, became a bit tiresome. However, the plot twist was quite unexpected. All throughout my reading I was positively sure it was his dad who invaded the garden so I was quite surprised to know that nobody broke in but something broke out.

Despite these critiques, the overall narrative remains enjoyable, and I believe the target audience (young adults) will likely find the tale appealing.

This one kind of caught me off guard. I've been in a bit of a reading slump but this book read so easily. Quill was a great main character. I loved the magic in this book and the lore. But also the mystery kept me at the edge of my scene.
The only thing I didn't love was the ending. I didn't hate it, though. I'd just hoped for a different one.

Trigger warnings for Evergreen include: assault, blood, illness, loss of a loved one, cancer, anxiety, panic attacks, profanity (swearing), fire, nightmares of traumatic events, hospitalisation, terminal illness, and mind control.
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I really enjoyed this book. The concept was very intriguing, and well thought out. I think it was also executed very well.
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I enjoyed the relationship between Liam and Quill, and his family. I found it really fun reading about Quill breaking his mother's rules, and learning how to live and exist in the wider world.
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The last few chapters were really strange and unexpected, but nice in the the way that the story culminated.
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There is definitely more I should be saying about this book, but I also can't actually formulate any concrete thoughts or words about it.

I'm giving Evergreen by Devin Greenlee a 4/5 stars rating, and I want to express my gratitude to Netgalley and Entangled Publishing for providing me with an early copy.

Netgalley describes this book as a Secret Garden retelling, while the author suggests it's more of a Rapunzel retelling. In my opinion, it embraces elements of both, though I wish the execution had been better.

Quill, the first male dryad ever born, captured my heart as a character. His upbringing involved homeschooling and being confined to his house with his mother and their garden. The introduction of a new family, including the human boy Liam, adds a layer of intrigue to Quill's sheltered life. The desire to explore the outside world grows in Quill, coinciding with Liam's curiosity about him.

The initial 60% of the book is undeniably cute and enjoyable to read. However, the plot takes a backseat until the very end, which was a bit disappointing. Despite this, the charm and two-thirds of the love story between Quill and Liam make the narrative quite endearing. While the plot may be lacking, the strong character development makes it deserving of a high rating.

All seventeen-year-old Quill wants is a break from the family business. Flowers, plants, the generations-old garden. What he wouldn’t give for a taste of the outside world. Normalcy. But his mom won’t let him out of the house, telling him he’s just not ready…
Evergreen
by Devin Greenlee
Pub Date: 16 Jan 2024

All because he’s a dryad. Well, not just any dryad, but a male dryad—the first ever. And unlike everyone else in his family, he hasn’t a lick of magic. Just a shock of green hair, matching green eyes, and a growing frustration that there’s an entire world out there waiting to be discovered. Until the night when the outside world—specifically his new neighbor—discovers him.

Liam Watson lives in a culture filled with electronics, mobile devices, and social media—where there is no magic or even the belief in it. And as much as Quill finds Liam irritating (he’s so cute it’s annoying), he can’t help himself.

Now Quill’s getting a taste of the outside world and of Liam…and he wants more. But all is not well in this magical, urban garden, and someone—or something—is changing the very essence of it.

And wherever Quill goes, the danger grows…

#Evergreen

I just finished this Evergreen by Devin Greenlee. Thank you to Entangled Publishing for sending me an ARC of this story in exchange for an honest review! Evergreen is a story that I would describe as a "cozy YA fantasy." This is the story of a young male dryad named Quill, his mom, sister, and new neighbors. They live in a modern day small town live above the small flower shop they own and run. This is where their every day lives end and the fantasy begins. Inside their apartment is a door to a special hidden garden containing acres of special plants, trees, and even a special waterfall. This garden contains the magic of their family and all of their ancestors. As with most 17 year old kids, Quill is trying to figure out who he is and where he belongs in life. His urge to break off onto his own is causing tensions at home, but nothing out of the ordinary. While navigating these changes, Quill and his sister notice something happening with the garden, right around the time the new neighbors move in. They have to race to figure out what is going on before it is too late and their family legacy of magic is ruined. I loved how fast and relaxing this book felt to read. The world building wasn't overwhelming and the characters were likable and relatable. Both the small town and garden sound like places you would want to visit. The ending was not something I predicted and I really enjoyed Quill's journey and personal growth through the entire story. I hope one day we will be able to visit Quill's story again in a sequel and get to check in on him today. I recommend this one for a quick and relaxing read!

This was described as a Secret Garden reimagining, and apart from the Garden part it didn't quite come through on the comparison to that. However, it was a pretty good book regardless.

Quill is the only male Dryad in history, and unlike all the females in his family line, he has no magic but doesn't stop his Mother keeping him hidden away to avoid their secret magic getting out in the world.

But one day, Quill meets Liam and his first taste of the outside world makes him feel a little bolder. Wanting to experience more of the human world, especially with Liam by his side, seems innocent enough, but there is something more sinister at play... things are changing in the garden and it may not be for the better!

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Teen for the chance to read and review this early copy of the book... the date was January but when I have checked amazon today it says February so hopefully early next year for anyone interested!

I am a sucker for a pretty, floral cover, and queer stories always pull me in, especially when there’s fairy tale elements. For me, Evergreen didn’t quite live up to the cover. It starts really interestingly and I like Quill and Liam initially getting to know one another, and Quill’s utter obliviousness is pretty precious. But the middle third ended up feeling slow and like the premise kinda got lost in favor of a romance. I did enjoy the finale and the way the mystery of who broke into the garden was revealed. There is definitely some interesting magic and Quill does a fair bit of growing for a story that takes place over only a few weeks. All that said, though, this ended up being a pretty middling read for me. I think it has a lot of potential and I look forward to seeing how Devin will grow as a storyteller in future books.