Book Review
Title: Username: Evie
Author: Joe Sugg
Genre: Graphic Novel
Rating: *****
Review: I didn’t know much about Username: Evie but I have seen the series around and wanted to pick it up since I am in an awesome reading mood right now. We are introduced to our protagonist Evie who much like some of us just wants to fit in, but she doesn’t have much luck since her cousin Mallory is awful to her as she is one of the popular girls while Evie is a certified nerd, much like myself. Evie’s mother died when she was younger and her died seems to have a terminal illness although we don’t know what it is, her father is a software designer and has been working on something relentlessly but Evie doesn’t what it is. We follow Evie in her day to day life, at home and at school, where the only place she can escape from Mallory without resorting to comfort eating is hiding in the fridge of all places but it works for her.
However, one day she returns home and finds that her father has died, with no other option Evie has to move in with Mallory and her parents as she has no one else who can take her. Mallory isn’t as awful after the funeral but that quickly changes when Evie returns to school, but she finds on her father’s laptop an app with a recorded message from him. This freaks Evie out at first but after a failed attempt at talking to Mallory, she returns to it. Her father’s message tells her he created this app so she would have a space to be herself and she is seemingly transported to another world within the app. In this world, Evie meets Unity a program her father created to welcome her and explain the function of this world. Unity explains that the app works by pulling Evie into the world created by only for a few minutes at a time so she isn’t missing back in the real world. The world is also designed to evolve with her personality so she can make it a place that it is truly her own but this doesn’t last long.
Mallory ends up finding the computer and opening the app pulling her into the world but she refuses to listen to Unity and almost immediately her very dark personality begins to overwhelm the world Evie is creating. She turns the people into mindless followers that will follow her every command, the plants and animals also change but Evie meets a stranger who seems to be quite sentient and tells her that she can find her father within this world and undo the damage that is being caused. Meanwhile, Mallory has become aware that Evie is also in the world and that it belongs to her and she wants it for her own so she makes it her mission to hunt Evie down and eject her from the world, but so far Evie has managed to stay one step ahead of her cousin. The mysterious stranger leads Evie to a cabin where finds the program of her father waiting there for her so she can truly say goodbye to him that she didn’t get to do in the real world. However, it isn’t long before Mallory and her corruption appear and Evie knows time is running out to save the world as when the last cherry blossom falls they will be stuck in the world when it collapses. Evie is tried of being pushed around and faces up to Mallory and in their fight she manages to get through to her cousin and has time to stop the corruption but as they head back to the tree with the stranger who also has to go home to the real world they are ambushed by corrupted humans. Rather than fighting with each other, Mallory and Evie work together to stay the world and escape but they have to leave the stranger behind where it seems like his program dies as the world resets itself.
Back in the real world at least Mallory and Evie seem to have reached a point in their relationship where they can exist peacefully and Evie manages to find someone who truly cares for her in Lionel, rather than the jock Jasper who she had a crush on and she passes on the same advice that Unity gave to her. Overall, I really like Username: Evie and I will definitely be picking up the two sequels from my college library. It was a little strange reading a graphic novel in full colour, since I am used to reading manga in black and white. I also caught myself a few times reading the panels backwards but I found it to be a quick and enjoyable read.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
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