Devin Greenlee makes his writing debut with Evergreen and I'm excited to see where he goes from here. The book has a fun premise - a dryad family protecting a secret ancient garden while running a flower shop that doubles as a maybe magical curatives dealer? Then make it queer? Sold.

Quill is a half-human half-dryad, segregated from the outside world by his mother until she decides he's "ready." He's the first male dryad ever, stuck helping in the family's garden and away from all of the excitement of the city outside his window. At least, until his neighbor encounters him on their shared fire escape. Where Quill is all nature, Liam is technology and electronics and modernity - and Quill can't get enough. But could Liam be the reason that the family's garden - the very thing that keeps them alive - is warping and changing?

The premise is such an interesting one! Even Quill, with his vaguely Rapunzel-like story and being the first male Dryad ever, is an interesting idea. The problem is that... nothing ever really comes of it in any remarkable way. Why is he the first male dryad? Is that at all important?
Liam was... meh, as far as LIs go. There was a big reveal toward the 75% mark of the book that ended up being hand waved away with regard to him that honestly just kind of baffled me and completely detracted from the ending. It was difficult to really bond with any of the characters: no one was sufficiently developed to the point that I felt attached to them.
Even the ending itself was just kind of fine. I wish it had gotten reworked and fleshed out a bit more - I think I flipped back in my ARC a few times to make sure I hadn't accidentally skipped a chapter or two because I couldn't understand why we had jumped from one point to the next.

So, overall, this was a promising premise, but a disappointing execution.

I found this book to warm my heart in so many ways. The story reminded me that the heart loves who the heart wants to love. Love is pure. Love knows no boundaries and to fully love, you have to have trust-not just in the other person, but yourself. Evergreen is also about the love of family. Just all the right pieces for the perfect book! Evergreen will just make you...happy and to have that seed of faith that love is really truly kind!

Thank you, Devin Greenlee, for writing such a heart-warming book and to @entangled_publishing for sharing Devin Greenlee 's work.

Evergreen is the debut of Devin Greenlee. I was drawn to this book because of it's stunning cover and after reading the synopsis I was wondering what this LGBTQ+ fantasy romance book would bring to its readers. What will Devin Greenlee have in store? Will this debut be a succes?

"Trapped for sixteen years. What's a thousand more?"

The book starts of quite easisy. This ensures you really have time to get to know Quill a bit. In addition, the introduction of Liam also goes slow paced making the character development really well present in this debut. Both Quill and Liam are easy going, but also like adventures. I think they are really cute together.

Devin Greenlee has a nice writing style. He knows how to draw the reader into the story. Sometimes it even felt like this book was more of a movie and I think this book could easily be made into one due to the writing style and storyline. I didn't at all feel like this book was a debut, since the story is written really well.

In the end of the story there is a major twist, which in my opinion could have been introduced sooner. It really changes the storyline and I would have loved to have a little more hints to this twists throughout the story, since the fantasy part (exept for the dryads) really comes late in this story making it more of a romance book. Overall I really enjoyed reading Evergreen. Therefore I am giving it a 4 star rating.

The book exhibits exceptional writing, featuring a captivating and dynamic plot. Devin skillfully weaves a narrative that is both engaging and thought-provoking. Particularly noteworthy are the interactions between the characters: Quill and Liam, which add depth and nuance to the storyline. Overall, the novel demonstrates a commendable level of craftsmanship and storytelling prowess. A cozy read!

En bref, j'étais curieuse de découvrir cette histoire entre sa superbe couverture et son résumé intrigant. Si j'ai apprécié dans l'ensemble le monde créé par l'auteur et ses personnages, j'ai eu un peu plus de mal avec l'intrigue et son rythme erratique. Soit ça va trop lentement, soit ça va trop vite et ça a eu tendance à me frustrer parfois. J'ai par contre beaucoup aimé Quill et Liam, ils sont tous les deux touchants et attachants et on ne peut que sourire en les voyant tomber amoureux. Le final est très (trop) rapide mais on a les réponses à nos questions. Sympathique mais oubliable...

A solid queer fantasy romance.

It follows the story of Quill as he struggles with family issues and who he is. He is the first male dryad and seems to have no powers.

It is a bit predictable- as are most fantasy books. He comes to find out he has powers, the entire thing happens in a course of about 2 weeks (less if you don't include the epilogue), he gets the guy. The whole lot. That being said, it was an enjoyable and easy read.

This was a REALLY fun YA M/M opposites attract fantasy romance that sees the first male dryad falling for a guy in the nonmagical 'real world.' Sweet with great banter and perfect for fans of books like Belladonna. I enjoyed this one a lot and look forward to more from Devin Greenlee! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

This coming of age queer romance is a unique urban reimagining of the Secret Garden! Quill is a 17 year old dryad who live in an apartment with his mother (sister lives upstairs) and works in their extensive hidden magical garden and floral shop. As the only male dryad to exist ever, Quill is forbidden to attend school or leave the apartment or garden. Quill’s cravings for normalcy are fueled when a new neighbor lands on his fire escape one evening. Liam is more than willing to help expand Quill’s life by inviting him out of the apartment for a series of fun adventures; movies, restaurants, small gatherings, and a swim date. However, as Quill continues to explore the outside world, danger grows inside the family’s garden threatening to end their connection to magic. Full of longing, suspense, exploring one’s identity, I found Everygreen to be the perfect mix of young adult magical fun. Quill and Liam’s budding romance was perfectly written; I especially enjoyed the way they each expanded one another’s views!

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Teen for this e-arc!

I enjoyed the premise of this book; it reminded me of a cozy cottage core romance novel. Admittedly, some of the scenes came off as a bit repetitive; to avoid spoilers, I will just say that some scenes between Quill and Liam felt like I'd read them before. But the characters are well-written, well-developed, and showcase what I believe to be a good representation of LGBTQ+ characterization.

I love the idea of the family business though, and I believe my students would enjoy the concept of a half-human-half-dryad green eyed, green haired main character. I think my students could relate to Quill's desire to experience something new, and to experience a 'normal' life in the 'normal' world.

I think I would recommend this to my lower-level readers, or readers looking for a vacation novel. I don't think my higher level students would enjoy this; the writing and plot feel a bit basic, This is absolutely no hate to the author; the premise and concept of the book are wonderful and fresh. It's been a while since I've read a new idea within the young adult world, and it's been even longer since I've read a good representation of LGBTQ+ characters.

Thank you Entangled Teen for sending me the pre-approved widget for this title!

Unfortunately, this title just wasn't for me and I had to DNF at 57%. While normally I enjoy YA titles, this one definitely was written for a younger audience in mind, so it's a perfect easy urban fantasy for pre-teens and up.

This book is beautifully well written. It's a sweet tale of coming of age, self discovery, and LGBTQIA+ representation. It is a book that, if i had pre-teens/teens in the house, I would be very proud to have in my library for them.

First and foremost I would like to thank NetGalley for the E-ARC and wish to impress that all opinions remain my own.

A queer YA dryad romance, Evergreen is a fine example of a new twist on a classic concept.

Quill is half-human, working in his family's garden. The garden was beautifully explained and I think that the oldest trees being their ancestors helping their magic garden thrive was a wonderful concept.

The romance was sweet, I really liked how different Liam is from Quill. I enjoyed how he slowly got to experience the human world with him. Liam was very sweet and caring towards Quill, and I really loved how Quill's sexuality was taken in stride.

All in all, I really enjoyed this. If you enjoy YA, dryads or romance I think you will also really enjoy this.

This was an enjoyable read! I only realized halfway through the novel that it had initially been pitched as a queer loosely-retold Secret Garden, but frankly, barring there being a literal secret garden in the text, it really doesn’t hold too closely to the original (not that it’s a bad thing! Just a note for those who were drawn by the comparison).

I thought the twists of the story were interesting, as we try to figure out who has broken into Quill’s family garden and is causing damage to the family’s magical plant store. The world created in the garden sounds amazing, and I wanted more scenes just letting us see this incredibly expansive square mile of magical greenery. Alas…

A few things took me out of the book: 1) what felt like juvenile writing. I saw a few other reviews comparing the construction of the text to fanfiction, and while I wouldn’t say it was extreme, I understood what they meant. 2) The characters fell flat for me. I rooted for Quill and Liam, but there was nothing about either of them that stood out, nor the surrounding support characters. Quill was interesting as the first male dryad in his familial line, but the author chose more to focus on the budding romance than Quill’s own introspection at times, choosing only to highlight his inexperience with the human world as the sole source of character quirks. 3) The ongoing conflict between Quill and his mother about “keeping him safe” versus letting him go out into the world got tired very quickly. Clearly she wanted to protect him, but her prior trauma clearly colored her lens, and it felt like a typical example of “I will keep him sheltered, then use that sheltered upbringing as an argument point to cyclically KEEP him sheltered”. Quill continually forgave his mother and justified her actions, but with her not telling him much or educating him about the world “out there”, she just seemed to add to the problem, and I was struggling to find sympathy for either of them.

Overall, this is a good debut. There were certainly some issues, and I think more intensive editing would have benefited the novel, but the book entertained me for an afternoon, and I don;t ask for much more than that. For that, this gets 3⭐️

*Thank you again to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

Evergreen is a delightful debut by Devin Greenlee, and it will warm your heart with the coming-of-age story.

A very cute YA love story with a magic twist. At first, I was a little frustrated with the stereotypical YA MC—ignoring good advice! sneaking out! keeping secrets for no reason! but honestly as the book went on it really picked up momentum. Most of my questions about the magical world building were at least addressed by the end of the book (though I am still side-eyeing the idea that these creatures all have liasons with humans but our MC is the only half-human male ever born? idk seems sus). I enjoyed the magical hijinks & the surprisingly high stakes which appeared in the last 20% or so of the story. I do feel like we could have gotten a little more dark & ominous vibes earlier on to foreshadow a bit but overall I enjoyed it. A very sweet story.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review!

While the magic system and characters were intriguing, the pacing felt a little sluggish during the middle, though picked up at the end. At times, the dialogue and the writing style felt amateurish, and I probably would've enjoyed this more as a younger teenager. However, it is a good debut and the author has a lot of potential for future books.

I think this may have been a case of this isn't a bad book.. it just wasn't for me. The premise sounded intriguing and checked multiple boxes for me as far as interests go, so I was pretty excited going in. However, quite literally from the first chapter, I could tell that this wasn't going to live up to my expectations. I know this book is ya, but it felt like the writing, plot, and characters read as immature and underdeveloped. Quill and Liam were cute, but I feel like 80% of the story was focused on their relationship with very little focus on the plot. The dryad and "secret garden" aspect in this book was what I was initially most excited about, but I feel like we got to see very little of this. Don't get me wrong, this was a quick read and I enjoyed it, I just feel like it didn't live up to its full potential. I do think if I had read this as a teenager though I probably would have loved it.

Thank you NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review.

3.75 stars
I really enjoyed the magic in this book, so much so that I wish there was more of it. I loved the take on male dryad and how being the first puts so much pressure onto Quill. I really enjoyed the twists and turns in this book, even though some of the smaller ones were predictable. The overall plot didn't lag in spots and was reasonably paced. I think there could have been higher consequences for the characters, especially with the ending kind of eliminating those consequences.

Overall this book was a good YA fantasy that could have dived deeper into the worldbuilding and created heavier consequences for the characters,

It was quite the fantasy and cutie reading, a book that goes for the YA category. Sincerely it was not the kind of thing I would read most of the time but made me giggle A LOT.

"Evergreen" has a pretty interesting premise but the characters didn´t make a connection with the reader and doesn´t elaborate in important things like the dryads -even when Quill is one-.

Even so, the story was good and the magical floral shop was something i liked a lot, well, that and the sibling relationship between Quill and Laurel.

All in all, the "coming of age" troupe was well done, as well as the funny and lovely dryad family, even if I would like that they spent more time in the garden.

Thanks to Netgalley and David Greenlee for the chance to read this ARC and give a review!

A loosely based beautiful retelling of the Secret Garden, a story that has always held a special place in my heart. It was very YA in my opinion but the story was unique and quite interesting.

Evergreen by Devin Greenlee is an enchanting YA urban fantasy.
With it’s captivating characters and beautiful writing I was hooked once I started.
An interesting story about love, mystery and self-discovery.
I felt drawn into the world very quickly into the story. The world building, the story and the writing style are nice and well developed.
A magical coming-of-age debut with romance.

Thank You NetGalley and Entangled: Teen for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!