This is a great middle school mix of Inheritance Games and Pirates of the Caribbean. It's perfect for those who love to solve puzzles.

I was hooked right away. Benny is told she can inherit a fortune and that would help her and her mom out a lot. But the catch is she has to solve puzzles and find a mysterious island by a certain date or she gets nothing. I was very intrigued as to why someone would leave what appears to be a perfect stranger their entire fortune.

However, about 60% of the way through, I started to get really slow. I struggled with that part a bit until it got to about 85%. It picked up quite a bit and everything started to come together

If you don't like books that end on a cliffhanger, wait to read this one until more of the series comes out. If you're okay with waiting, then dive right in!

I give this book a solid 4 stars. Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Kids for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion. Isle of Ever is out March 25th, 2025.

Isle of Ever is the first book in a brand new series from author Jen Calonita (Fairy Tale Reform School). Filled with puzzles, pirates, maps, old newspaper clippings from the 1800s and diary entries, it’s an adventure mystery with a sprinkle of magic.

The story is told mostly from Benny’s point of view, which is interspersed with entries from Evelyn’s private journal. Benny is a strong, independent protagonist that will immediately appeal to readers. Supporting characters are equally as intriguing, although Benny’s mom feels a bit one-note.

Isle of Ever is sure to appeal to fans of mystery, and based on the cliff-hanger ending they’re going to be clamoring for its sequel. This one is lots of fun.

As a middle grade book, this story is great for younger readers. It was emotional and had me crying multiple times, as a grown adult. It has Pirates of the Caribbean vibes and Outer Banks vibes. I loved following Benny as she made new friends and embarked on the treasure hunt made by her great grandmother seven times. It ends with a cliffhanger and I need book two now.

In this middle grade mystery you follow Everly Benedict (Benny) and some friends in her quest. I absolutely loved the mystery in this book. It was a fun, adventurous tale of solving clues to break a curse and obtain her inheritance. This is such a fun read for a young audience. Perfect for middle grade readers that like adventure and mystery. This book leaves you craving more!

Quick and lighthearted read. Story progresses nicely with a few twists and turns. Not rushed and good characters.

I truly enjoyed going into a new world with Jen Calonita. She is a master at creating a world that just sweeps you up as a reader and draws you in. Isle of Ever is no exception to this. Everly “Benny” is a dynamic character whose love of games and mysteries shines through the page. I love the friends that she gathers throughout her journey, and the twists that come are not totally detectable. I am so excited to continue to travel into this new world with the second book.
Thank you so much to Sourcebooks Kid’s and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book.

A great middle grade novel with mystery, intrigue, and magical realism. I liked the interwovenness of the different generations in the family. This book will leave you waiting with anticipation for the sequel!

When Benny turns 12, she learns that she will inherit a fabulous coastal estate IF she plays a mysterious game and manages to win. Benny is great at puzzles and games, so is sure she has a chance, and she and her single mom can really use a break. But there is more to the story - pirates, a curse, an island no one can find, and new friends to help Benny to success. Local history and family connections also come into play for a fairly intricate story full of adventure, danger, greed, friendship and perseverance. Benny is smart and irresistible, and the other characters engaging. The puzzles are fairly clever, and the fantasy elements add sparkle. Lots of fun. Highly recommended.

A huge thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for allowing me to read the early copy of this book for review! I absolutely adored this book, except for the ending mostly because I didn’t want it to end!! I adore the cast of characters and the storyline is wonderful. Greenport is a great choice to set the story in, as it isn’t a famous destination so there is enough of a mystery to the place. Also, this poor kid gets an inheritance tied to a game genre has really boomed and there are good versions of it like Mystery Royale that can’t really pull off the cliff hanger because they aren’t all consuming enough to really drag you in for as many books as possible, and there are books like Inheritance Games and this book that can absolutely drag this short game out into multiple titles because it is so compulsively great to read. I literally can’t wait for the next in this series!

Everly "Benny" Benedict inherits a fortune a few days after her twelfth birthday, but in order to actually get it, she must play a game. She has two weeks to follow clues left behind by an ancestor to find an island that vanished a long time ago. If she's successful, she'll break a two-hundred-year-old curse. If she fails, the fortune will be forfeited. And if she's not careful, she'll cross paths with someone else who is after the island's secrets, and who will stop at nothing to get them.

Twelve-year-old Benny and her mother bounced from one place to another, which gives her only two weeks to find the hidden island. She gets riddles and journal entries outlining what happened in Greenport during the whooping cough outbreak. The island itself was difficult to find, with a buried treasure in it. It's this treasure that led another person to the island two hundred years ago and is now the reason why someone else wants to reach the island before her.

We don't learn about the other person until the very end, and the book is largely about Benny meeting Zara and Ryan, and making friends as she searches for clues in the house and historical society. With moving so much and not having money, suddenly living on an estate with the lure of a fortune is a driving force. She also loves games and puzzles, so this entire premise is wonderful. Exploring the town and learning about the town gives her and the reader clues as the deadline draws near. It's a fun read for middle-grade children, and there will be another book where Benny will unravel the secret of the island.

A twelve-year-old girl inherits a fortune and must find a secret island. This story is magically wonderful and great for older children.

3/5 stars. Thank you NetGalley for this advanced readers copy of this novel and thank you to Jen Calonita for writing such a fun book!

This is absolutely a middle school age book… but I’m happy I gave it a read for my younger friends in my life.
This reminds me of Percy Jackson and very Disney influenced. I love the fun and youthful aspect of this story. I would have LOVED to have read something like this back in my younger days.

Would I recommend this to a 25 year old? No, probably not. But 16 and younger? Absolutely!

Published March 25, 2025!

Isle of Ever by Jen Calonita is an interesting middle grade novel with mystery, friendship, puzzles and supernatural aspects. I think this will appeal to a variety of readers. I wish there was more conclusion other than stay tuned for book 2.

I like both Evelyns. Evelyn "Benny" Terry is a young woman that lives with her mom and has a mystery to solve if she wants to enjoy the inheritance that her ancestor Evelyn Terry left to her. Evelyn "Sparrow" Terry is a young woman that is growing up in Long Island New York with her family and there's a mysterious island that calls to her and a pirate? That may live there. I love that both Evelyns have a distinctive voice because it makes distinguishing them better. Sparrow has friends and is a trying to hold onto the people she loves, Benny is making friends and is trying to hold onto the life that she has inherited. I love how both stories connect through Sparrow's letters to Benny and for me personally it's set in Long Island and that's my hometown. I love that Sparrow is putting Benny on a path that had been set up years before and Benny's nature of loving mysteries following the clues to solving the mystery.

I LOVED this scavenger hunt style mystery. It reminded me of The Inheritance Games but for middle grade. Such a fun read. Compulsively readable.

My one complaint is the use of “badass” in the final pages. It is unnecessary and limits the number of kids I can recommend it to. One repeated curse word is a stupid reason for librarians to come under fire for an otherwise wonderful book!

This was an absolutely delightful adventure/mystery for middle school readers. The storyline is fantastic, the pacing is wonderful, I couldn’t put it down. I can’t wait for the next book. I will definitely be buying this series for my Grandchildren. I absolutely adored it!!

I loved this book! It is really fast paced and moves between a present day storyline and a story from the past. The pacing, characters and fantasy portion of this book reminds me of the Greenglass House series.

I highly recommend this book. It is considered a middle grade book, but I enjoyed it as an adult. I can't wait for the second book in the series to pick up where this book leaves off.

Isle of Ever by Jen Calonita is a past-paced fantasy story about Everly Benedict who embarks on a thrilling adventure to find her family legacy. It is a must read for middle school students.

This felt a bit like a MG version of Inheritance Games or like Westing Game except with a little bit of a supernatural or magical twist. And it ends in a cliffhanger just as you think the truth is going to be revealed making way for a book 2.

This was such a fun book for historical fiction fans, puzzle mystery lovers, fantasy and time travel readers and those who are just looking for an absorbing beach read. The book was told from two different perspectives - Everly Benedict in the present day, and her ancestor, Evelyn Terry in the 1800s. Our present-day main character, Everly, is a tough-as-nails, bright and brilliant young protagonist, determined to help her slightly scatterbrained mother keep their lives together. When she gets a windfall in the form of mysterious treasure hunt addressed to her, specifically, she jumps at the chance to win a life of security. What she doesn't expect is to learn even more explosive family secrets, including a secret island that only seems to appear at the Blood Moon. It was an engrossing and windswept middle grade novel, that kept you flipping the pages (both forward as you were eager to find out what happened and backwards to connect the trail of clues in the story). It is the first in a series and the cliffhanger will leave you gasping for the next book. Highly recommended for historical mystery and fantasy fans who like the Mysterious Benedict Society, Pages & Co, or the Robin Stevens' Wells and Wong series.