Author: Brodi Ashton
Publisher: Balzer & Bray
From: the Publisher, Thank You!
Format: ARC
Synopsis: Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she's returned- to her old life, her family, her friends- before being banished back to the underworld... this time forever.
She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.
Nikki longs to spend these months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the one person she loves more than anything. But there's a problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who first enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back- this time as his queen.
As Nikki's time grows short and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she's forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's...
Review: 4 stars - Everneath, the freshman title from author Brodi Ashton is more than unique; it’s a wonderful breath of fresh air for fans of the YA genre. Anston takes Greek mythology and twists together those myths with her own story, which launches us into part one of what’s sure to be a fantastic new trilogy.
To all her friends and family, Nikki disappeared without a trace. Throughout the novel we learn more about what happened to her before, during and after the life changing choice she made. She had no idea what was about to happen, being taken to the Everneath and her emotions used to feed immortals.
When I first started reading Everneath I was often confused
and sometimes frustrated that I didn’t understand what was happening and some
of the terms that were used. The story is told from the point of view of Nikki
and jumps around from before the Feed, to present day, to while Nikki was in
the Everneath. Time changes differently in the normal world and the Everneath,
in the normal world Nikki was only gone for 6 months, yet for Nikki in the
Everneath she was there for 100 years. It took some getting used to, yet the
more you read the more you become immersed in the story and the characters.
Nikki might have made a huge mistake and is paying an amazingly
HUGE price for it, yet the returned Nikki has a good head on her shoulders and
is out to try to fix some things with the people she loves the most. I grew to
care about Nikki the more I read. She had fears, she had worries and they all
were about others feelings first and her own fear second.
I think the confusion I felt was warranted because of the
fact that Nikki was dealing with so much and only had such a short time to
comprehend it all. While I’m not sure if it was Ashtons plans to have her
readers confused, it worked because you…. and this is going to sound really
weird, but for me I think I had more of a chance to understand where Nikki was
coming from because of that confusion. Weird I know, but that’s the conclusion
I came to when I finished reading.
Greek mythology was sprinkled here and there throughout the
pages and added another layer to the story that was welcome and appreciated.
While it was a larger part of the overall picture that Ashton was trying to
paint it wasn’t overpowering in the slightest. I’m always one looking to better
understand authors take on myths, yet Ashton had just enough not to confuse or diluted
the story with an abundance of facts. I
have to give Ashton props for the mythology and how wonderfully it was
interlaced in the story.
Jack and Cole are totally different from one another. My
heart broke a little bit for Jack. He felt so real to me. I’m team Jack through
and through, at least after this book. I felt like I could see the cracks from
the devastating loss he had when Nikki vanished. The wounds are there and deep
when she returns. One thing was watching him try to mend and heal those cracks
once she came back. The parts of the story with Jack were some of my favorite. I
could really feel what he was feeling. And then we have Cole. I didn’t care for
this character one bit. I cringed when he was around. You just knew something
bad was about to happen, totally not a fan of Cole’s. I usually love the bad boys,
but not this one. He’s just… GUH! Frustrating! Maybe in the next book I’d like
him a bit more.
A few things that were wonderful about this book was Ashton’s
writing and that the story was lacking many of the usual things we find in YA
novels, like a love triangle. You won’t find it here. Yet there was somewhat of
a cliff-hanger that tends to happen in a book within a series or a trilogy, so
be prepared.
All in all, the last quart of the book flew by in a flash! At
the end I felt that there were many conclusions and some lingering questions,
which is a usual thing when it’s the beginning of series or trilogy. Ashton’s
story was a pleasure to read and the Nikki and Jack were two characters I had
even more of a pleasure getting to know. Also, I have to say that the cover for
this one is one of my favorites! Talk about breathtaking! I’m looking forward
to the next installment to see what Ashton’s characters have in store for us
next. Happy Reading.
FTC Disclaimer: I did NOT pay for this book, nor have I been compensated at all in any way or means for reading and writing this HONEST review.
I'm really glad to hear how much you liked this one, and I can ALWAYS use a breath of fresh air in my books. And since a certain awesome person sent me a copy of this book (:D), hopefully I'll get around to reading it soon!
ReplyDeleteI love the cover for this so much! And I am thrilled that there is no love triangle-so sick of them in YA. I just put this on hold at the library so I'll hopefully be able to give it a read soon!
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