Oh Everneath, what shall I do with you?
Book Review: Everneath by Brodi Ashton
GoodReads | Amazon
Title & Author: Everneath
Genre: YA- Fantasy
Release Date: January 24, 2012
Series: 1nd in a planned series
Publisher: Balzer and Bray (HarperCollins)
How I Got the Book: ARC from NetGalley
Description:
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…”
Ever-Dark Everneath
If you enjoy the darker side of fantasy, I think you’ll love Everneath. This book has a fair amount of heavy topics – death, rejection, guilt, regret. Plus, an ending that will tear your heart out and do a jig on top of it. Yeah, that’s how it rolls.
Nicki is emotionally and physically damaged – she feels like she constantly disappoints her family and she’s lost all her friends (because they thought she was a drug addict vs. Everneath survivor).
While I did enjoy Everneath, there were a few elements of the book that took me out of the reality that Ashton was trying to create. The whole reason that Nikki decides to make a flippin LIFE-ALTERING decision is because she thinks her boyfriend is cheating on her. But she doesn’t ask him about it or even make sure what she thought happened really happened. She just ups and, you know, forfeits her life to become an Everling (immortal).
I didn’t find this believable because it just seemed too extreme of a reaction. Granted, Nikki didn’t realize exactly what would happen to go with Cole to the Everneath – like that she would be stuck with him for a hundred years in a weird cocoon in seudo-Hell. Also, I realize, this is a book and over-dramatic things tend to happen in a fantasy setting, but it was a struggle for me to connect with Nikki on this one.
Other than that, the book is filled with so much sadness and despair. Don’t read Everneath if you’ve just ended a relationship. There’s not a lot of light-heartedness or joy in its pages.
Light at the end of the Tunnel
One aspect of Everneath that I really appreciated was the idea of redemption. That someone could find something pure and good and clean in someone else that’s worth fighting for. It was a bright light in a very dark novel.
I definitely rooted for Nikki to find the strength to forgive herself from the terrible decisions she made and maybe make the ultimate sacrifice (I promise that was not a spoiler!)
OVERALL:
Despite some mixed feelings about the real-ness of the world Ashton created, I couldn’t put this book down. It was a fast read that kept me glued to the pages. I did feel a little sad and blue after reading Everneath, but I’m excited to see what Ashton thinks up next. I just hope she throws her characters a bone!!! 
P.S. Isn’t the cover of Everneath hot, or what?
 |
|
-
http://ems-reviews-books.blogspot.com/ Ems
-
Bookishlilly
-
http://twitter.com/MelLHay Melissa
