Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Everneath
Brodi Ashton

Grade: A+


Release Date: January 24, 2012


Description from goodreads.com:
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...


My thoughts on the book:
Wow. This book is AMAZING! I just finished reading it, and I'm still in shock about the ending! I cried like a baby, I'm not going to lie. Don't worry, I won't spoil it for you, though.


Nikki comes back to the Surface, specifically Park City, UT, to tell her family and friends goodbye, and to see Jack one last time. Everyone thought that she ran off in some drug-induced haze six month prior and is just now crawling back home. The story is told from Nikki's POV, and it is written almost like a diary.


Her father, the Mayor of Park City, is trying to repair his relationship with Nikki while he fixes his image, which was tarnished when she ran away. They go through many rough spots, but Nikki is determined to make the most of her time, and she is very careful to treat her father and brother lovingly. 


I'm not going to say much more about the plot itself, because the way the novel unfolds means that if I go into any more detail, I could be giving spoilers without meaning to. I love the way the book is written, though. The chapters operate almost like a journal entry. Each chapter tells you whether you're in a memory or present-day along with how many days Nikki has left on the surface. Throughout the novel, instead of simply telling the various things that happened to Nikki, Ashton puts the reader directly into Nikki's memories so we can experience first hand everything that led to her following Cole into the Everneath. I really loved this approach. It was different, and it kept me much more involved in the story. It was almost like reading two separate stories at once, which was awesome. 


The characters were all well-developed, other than Jules, Nikki's best friend, and Tommy, Nikki's little brother. I would have liked to have seen more of Jules and gotten to know her better. Nikki was easy to relate to, and it was very easy to slip into her story and feel what she was feeling. I loved Jack. He is a fantastic character. His love and support for Nikki are breathtaking. Nikki's father is a typical politician, but with a heart. He wants to do what's best for Nikki, but he doesn't know how. Tommy is endearing, but I didn't get to know him very well in this novel. Cole, the bad guy, is anything but typical, and I can't decide if I love or hate him. Sometimes he's so sweet that I want Nikki to be with him, but then I see the motives behind his actions, and I'm not sure if I like him or not. I'm not always sure his motives are clear to the reader, since the book is written from Nikki's POV. I feel like we are missing what's really going on in his head. That adds to the mystery, though. 


The pacing of the story is spot on, and it keeps you hooked from the first page. This is one of the few books I've read in which I can't figure out what's going to happen next. Everything surprised me, and I could not stop reading because I had to know what was going on. I don't think this book could have been pried from my hands until I finished it. 


The mythology in the story is interesting. Ashton plays on Greek mythology, specifically the stories of Persephone and Hades and Orpheus and Eurydice. The myths are woven into the story well and add to it nicely. There is also a touch of Egyptian mythology thrown in. 

I would recommend this book to anyone 13+ because the underage characters don't partake in any illegal or "immoral" activities during the story itself. There are hints that Jack used to be a bit of a ladies' man, but there is nothing descriptive in those hints. 

Everneath is one of those stories that grabs onto you and won't let you go until it's finished. It's a heartbreaking tale of love, loss, and redemption. I can't wait until the sequel.

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