April 26, 2012

Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Title: Everneath
Author: Brodi Ashton
Pages: 370
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

From the flap:
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.

When I first saw this cover I was like ugh, another girl in a dress, assumed it was another generic paranormal romance and moved on.  Then my sister took it out of the library, read it, and raved about it.   Now, when my sister raves about something, I take notice.  Also when she says, 'You need to read this now because it's due and there's someone on the wait-list for it.'  I try to listen then too.


So Everneath is a reinterpretation of the Persephone myth, and meshes it together with the story of Orpheus and Eurydice.  I love when YA stuff is based on other things.  (See also: Entwined, Shut Out, Clueless, Romeo + Juliet.)  All we know in the beginning is that Nikki has spent the past 100 years in the Everneath getting her emotions sucked out of her by Cole.  We don't know why she went or how she got there.  Rather than stay in the Everneath with Cole, she has chosen to go home - where only six months have passed - to try and say a final goodbye to everyone she left behind before she is sentenced to the Tunnels forever.  Among the people she left behind are her father (the mayor), her 10 year old brother Tommy, best friend Jules, and cutey mc-cute cute boyfriend Jack.


The chapters jump back and forth between the present where Nikki is counting down her time left and the events that led up to her choosing to go to the Everneath.  I thought this set up really furthered my need to know why she chose to leave.  I loved seeing the build up of Jack and Nikki's relationship.  I loved the fall out of Nikki up and leaving without a word to anyone.  It struck me as very realistic - rumors of drugs and the people who stopped talking to her and whatnot.

I was about 150 pages in when I went online to see if this was going to be a series (warning: it is - trilogy).  I was looking on bn.com and one of the editorial reviews is super SPOILERIFIC.  Just an FYI.  That being said, I loved the ending, I loved the book, and I cannot wait for the next one.

2 comments:

  1. I just finished reading this one and really enjoyed it as well! I had read some mixed reviews, so I went in not expecting much, but I thought it was great.

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  2. Great review, this is one that's on my to be read list, and I can't wait to finally get to it.

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