66 pages • 2-hour read
The Never List
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Character Analysis
Rylee Gray
Rylee Gray is the primary narrator and protagonist of The Never List. Rylee initially attends the Choosing not because she wishes to partner with the Legends of Chaos but because she seeks information about her sister, Erin, who has been missing since the previous year’s Choosing. Though Rylee takes the risk of going to the Choosing with a forged invitation for pragmatic reasons, she also thrills at the danger. Her risk-taking leads her to make caustic, anti-monarchical comments, which draws Jax’s attention. When she is selected at the potential mate to the four Legends, Rylee’s initial reaction is terror, as she is a citizen of the Ashlands and a demi, a person with magical powers. Though possessing these powers is not illegal in itself, Rylee’s decision to hide her powers—because demis are strongly discriminated against in Lumathyst—makes her vulnerable to arrest or execution if discovered.
Rylee begins the courting process with the Legends determined to make them love her, no matter the cost, feeling this is the only way to ensure her survival. Gradually, however, she finds that her affection for the four Legends is increasingly legitimate, leading her priorities to change. She begins to value her partners’ safety over her own secrets, even the ones that she keeps to protect herself. Her decision to undertake the dangerous Athanry is particularly notable in this arc, as she chooses to do something that risks her life for the possibility of having eternity with her partners.
Rylee frequently speaks to the importance of greater economic equality, something that is particularly important to her because of her origins in the impoverished Ashlands. Though being with her partners is her primary motivation in seeking status as an immortal queen, she also hopes to leverage this power into helping those who have lack basic survival resources. She becomes increasingly invested in helping all people of Lumathyst as she sees more of the Legends’ cities and begins to feel a sense of responsibility for their wellbeing. Her other key motivation in the novel is finding her sister, whom she learns, at the end of the novel, is the leader of the Faders rebel group. Despite this shock, Rylee’s familial loyalty leads her to leap between Jax’s knife and her sister, leading to her apparent death in the novel’s final paragraphs.
The novel’s cliffhanger leaves Rylee’s fate uncertain, both as pertains to her status as immortal or not, whether she is alive or dead, and what this may mean for her newfound possession of the Legends’ powers, which they gave her to resurrect her after she dies during the Athanry.
Jax Lavine
Jax Lavine is one of the narrators of The Never List and one of Rylee’s four love interests in the novel. Jax is one of the four Legends of Chaos, nicknamed “the Nightmare” because his powers, a gift from his goddess mother, allow him to feel and manipulate the emotions of others. Jax’s reputation has led him to be widely feared, something that he feels acutely via his powers. This has led Jax to doubt his lovability, which, in turn, leads him to remain distant from Rylee for most of the novel. Once he decides to commit himself to their relationship, however, he becomes passionately involved in their romance and is devastated when she dies during the Athanry.
Jax’s father, Baydel, is the cruelest and most vicious of the four kings of Lumathyst. Jax has spent years being manipulated and controlled by his father, which makes him particularly sensitive to dishonesty. His powers allow him to detect that Rylee is lying, though not what she is lying about. This leads to significant friction between them for much of the novel, as Rylee does not feel safe enough to open up about her secrets.
Jax is the only one of the Legends who narrates portions of the novel that do not take place in the specific city for which he is responsible. Jax, by contrast, serves as narrator during both the setup of the novel, before Rylee becomes the Legends’ potential mate, and during the climax, when Rylee is temporarily dead. Jax’s narrative input in these important moments indicate that he is somewhat more central to the narrative that Rylee’s other love interest, something the novel supports by emphasizing the things that Jax and Rylee have in common. Both, for example, fear that they are not destined for a “happily ever after” and find that one another’s support helps improve their self-image significantly.
When Rylee dies during the Athanry, Jax immediately springs into action to save her. He doesn’t hesitate before giving up his powers in order to save her, indicating the depth of his trust in her. When Jax accidentally stabs Rylee instead of Erin at the end of the novel, he is devastated, suggesting that, as he previously predicted, losing Rylee may cause him to grow violent in a subsequent installment in the series.
Kal Erhart
Kal Erhart is one of the narrators of The Never List and one of Rylee’s love interests. Kal is nicknamed “the Dreamer” for his public Legends of Chaos persona. This parallels his powers, which allow him to fly, and his personality, which shows him determined to make the desires of his people come true. Kal is the most easy-going of the four Legends, though he is less obvious in his friendliness than exuberant Axl. Kal’s father, Jullian, is the kindest of the four Lumathyst kings. His mother, Nesh, is also the goddess that gave Rylee her powers with wind.
Kal is the first Legend with whom Rylee builds a relationship after she visits him in his city, the Ruby Aire. Rylee and Kal engage in public sex, something that reflects Rylee’s growing confidence living her life out in the open, as opposed to hiding her demi and Ashlander status. Kal is warm and supportive, open in his willingness to help Rylee navigate her other relationships, including accompanying her to Axl’s city.
Axl Dawson
Axl Dawson is one of the narrators of The Never List and one of Rylee’s love interests. Axl is one of the Legends of Chaos, nicknamed “the Player” due to his delight in fun and games. Axl’s power has to do with controlling water, meaning that he is the Legend whose nickname is least related to his powers. Axl is friendly and charming; his father, Lucas, is the least developed of the four kings, though the novel implies that Lucas agrees with Baydel more than the other kings. Axl’s lightheartedness helps Rylee learn to embrace fun even in the midst of her serious concerns about having her secrets revealed and facing any resulting consequences.
Pierce Bertrand
Pierce Bertrand is one of the narrators of The Never List and one of Rylee’s love interests. Pierce is one of the Legends of Chaos, nicknamed “the Mind” because of his ability to read minds. Pierce and Rylee have the relationship that moves the slowest, sexually speaking, but they develop a close intellectual bond before their relationship becomes physical. Rylee shows extraordinary trust in Pierce by allowing him to look inside her mind using her powers, even though she is still, at that point in the novel, keeping secrets. Pierce rewards this trust by not looking at any memory beyond what she has permitted him to see. When he promises to support her no matter what secrets come to light later—and upholds that promise when she reveals her origin and her demi status—Pierce helps alleviate Rylee’s fears that she will always be betrayed by those with more power than she possesses.
The Kings of Lumathyst
The four kings of Lumathyst are antagonists in The Never List, though the degree to which they oppose Rylee and the Legends varies.
The least developed of the four kings is Lucas Dawson, Axl’s father. Lucas appears only rarely in the novel, though Rylee’s sense that he is aligned with Baydel suggests that Lucas cannot be trusted to come to the protagonists’ aid. Axl admits to not trusting his father, which affirms Rylee’s instinct.
Jullian Erhart, Kal’s father, is presented as the most benevolent and trustworthy of the kings. He treats Rylee kindly when they encounter one another, and defends her against Baydel’s assault on the night of the Choosing. Though Kal professes to trust his father, Jullian is not framed, by the novel, as exempt from being part of the corrupt power structure that the four kings represent.
Brooks Bertrand, Pierce’s father, is presenting as being aligned more with benevolent Jullian than malevolent Baydel. Despite this, however, he confronts Rylee during her time in the Emerald Wood with Pierce. During his meeting, he offers her an opportunity to escape the Legends without consequence, which Rylee refuses. Even so, Brooks describes Rylee as being “lacking” compared to the other potentials, even though none of them remained with the Legends beyond a single month. This “lack” is thus implied to be related to Rylee’s origins as part of a low socioeconomic group. Brooks’ snobbishness indicates that, even if he is not actively vicious and cruel like Baydel, he is still over invested in social mores that leave poor citizens of Lumathyst behind.
The most prominent and most corrupt of the four kings is Jax’s father, Baydel Lavine. Baydel’s powers, granted by mating with the goddess Evaluna, allow him to control others’ bodies. Baydel relishes this power, which he uses to viciously and often publicly execute dissidents. He forces Rylee to watch one such execution as a power play against her; in this scene, he forces a demi man to throw himself off a balcony to his death on flimsy evidence of his crime.
Baydel relishes using his power against others; when Rylee refuses the kings’ advances as part of a test of her loyalty on the night of the Choosing, Baydel sexually assaults her and is only stopped when Jullian curtails him. Baydel resents Rylee refusing him, and treats her cruelly throughout the novel. When Rylee takes tainted elixir at the end of the novel, the text implies that Baydel is the one to have poisoned the elixir, though the text does not confirm this before its cliffhanger ending.
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