Review: Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Posted by Jessi (Geo) on January 28, 2012 | 2 Comments


Review: Everneath by Brodi AshtonEverneath by Brodi Ashton
Series: Everneath #1
Published by HarperTeen (1.24.2012)
Format: Hardcover, 370 pages
Source: I own it
Buy on Amazon


5 Stars

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath. Now she's returned--to her old life, her family, her boyfriend--before she's 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 precious months forgetting the Everneath and trying to reconnect with her boyfriend, Jack, the person most devastated by her disappearance--and the one person she loves more than anything. But there's just one problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who enticed her to the Everneath in the first place, has followed Nikki home. Cole wants to take over the throne in the underworld and is convinced Nikki is the key to making it happen. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back, this time as his queen.

As Nikki's time on the Surface draws to a close and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she is 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 queen.

Everneath is a captivating story of love, loss, and immortality from debut author Brodi Ashton.

My thoughts

A lot of times, when you see a book cover this beautiful, it’s compensating for something – as in, the lack of story in between the covers. This was not the case with Everneath. The story was just as beautiful as the cover. It broke my heart and crushed my soul. Like a grape.

Okay, hold the phone, now I have to share a video…

This whole clip is great, but I’m embedding it for a certain few seconds, 1:12 to 1:18. See what I mean? Tee hee!

Anyway, back to the review. Everneath grabbed me from the first chapter and refused to let go. I was a little confused at first because I didn’t understand the whole relationship between the Forfeit and Everling in the Feed, or what the Tunnels meant for a Forfeit. That part took time.

But even as I was learning about the Everneath, I was completely intrigued. The mythological parts definitely piqued my interest! This story is so unique and I must say it’s very refreshing to find something that breaks out of the mold of your typical YA paranormal novel. And guess what, I actually didn’t mind the love triangle! It wasn’t like most teen reads (uh, like Born at Midnight…ew) that have that idiotic, irritating love triangle (or square) where some dumb fickle chick bounces back and forth between two hot guys (with no personality to speak of) throughout the entire book. Nikki knows what she wants and never strays from that. There was no choice for her – the triangle part comes from both Cole and Jack wanting her.

I had mixed feelings about Nikki. While I liked that she was decisive about wanting Jack, I found her to be a bit of a coward for the majority of the book. Her reason for leaving to the Everneath in the first place was extremely cowardly, but there were a few moments when I kind of just wanted to slap her back to reality.
I loved Jack. He’s amazing! He stuck by her side even when she was being a moron. He believed in her and never gave up.
I didn’t like Cole at all. In fact, I think it bordered on hate for me. He was always in it for himself, even though he claimed to care about Nikki’s feelings. And he ruined everything whenever he had the chance.

I really liked how you got bits and pieces of the story in the form of flashbacks. It gave you just enough at just the right times to give you the big picture of what pushed Nikki to make the choice she did, all without revealing too much until the timing was perfect. I also liked the time tracking. It counts down as the book progresses, relaying the feel of desperation that Nikki is dealing with.

Ashton really had the emotion part down. There were parts mentioning Nikki’s mother that got to me a little, and the major mishap in Jack and Nikki’s relationship really did. I actually got that feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach as it led up to the big cave in. Maybe you can relate to that part more if you’ve gone through something similar – it’s the worst feeling in the world.

I was definitely interested the whole book, but the last 50 pages in particular had me frantically flipping pages, mouth open and eyes wide, heart pounding in anticipation. And crying like a little baby! Oh man, did I cry. And that’s rare for me. I just couldn’t help myself – the ending was terrible and beautiful all at once! If you plan on reading this one, you’re in for a real treat.

assessment
Plot: 5/5
Refreshingly original!
Writing Style: 4.5/5
Convincing and engaging.
Characters: 4.5/5
Felt very real.
World-building: 4.5/5
Loved the explanation of the Everlings and the Everneath.
Pace: 5/5
Never got bored!
Cover: 5/5
That dress! Red is my favorite color, in case you didn’t know – so automatically it draws my attention. But I especially love how she appears to be getting sucked away and dragged under.
 
Overall rating: 5/5 starfish
Jessi (Geo)

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2 responses to “Review: Everneath by Brodi Ashton

  1. I have an ebook copy of this for quite sometime now but I didn’t have the motivation to read it yet so I always delay it. I’m convinced with your review that I should read it soon! Thanks!

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