Book Shelf: Everneath (Everneath #1) by Brodi Ashton

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...

(Blurb from Goodreads.....)


Review:

Brodi Ashton’s debut novel Everneath is mystical and compelling and will draw you into a world of shadows, woven together with high school drama and everyday life in a tale that will draw you in and not let you go!

I admit I had such high expectations for this book. I’ve been eagerly awaiting it’s release, but when I first began reading I found myself a tad disappointed. At first I couldn’t connect with the characters and I struggled to keep reading and then a little less than half way through the connection caught and BAM! I was hooked! The story caught me and I was sucked into Niki’s pain and desperation.

Brodi Ashton has done a fantastic job with her mythology. She blends Ancient Greet myth with just a tinge of Ancient Egypt to create a story and plotline that’s so enthralling and utterly addictive that I didn’t want to stop reading at one point!
I found I enjoyed the combination of past and present that we witnessed throughout the story as Niki’s tale became apparent. The blend of Niki’s time before the Everneath and then the present went together perfectly to create an intriguing tale. Ashton had me completely with her rich mystery and suspense. I had to know what had happened and was going to happen as we learned about the dark world of shadows that is the Everneath, so filled to the depth with loss and pain.

Our main character Niki Bennet has been through so much. Her time in the Everneath changed her and left her a shadow of the person she used to be. Yet it took strength, a strength she shouldn’t have possessed to leave the Everneath and Return. I admired her courage in the face of knowing her fate and Ashton wrote in such a way that it was impossible to ignore the pain and desperation that collected within Niki even as she spent the majority of her time on the surface fighting to feel and regain some of who she once was.

As Niki’s fighting to right some of her wrongs in the short time she has left before she must return to the Everneath there are two boys that continue to immerse themselves in her life; Cole, the one she left with and Jack, the one she returned for. Both are very different and both are connected to Niki in very different ways.
Cole isn’t human, an Everling who’s intentions towards Niki are far from noble and yet who I honestly believe cares about her in his own way. I believe he’s cared about Niki since before he took her to the Everneath with him, although he often doesn’t show it. Cole has his personality problems, but I think there’s more to him than we’ve seen so far and I look forward to seeing how Ashton develops him in future books.

And yet it’s undeniably Jack that has Niki’s heart and mine too. As well he should! Jack Caputo has got to be one of the most swoon-worthy boys I’ve read in YA fiction lately. He’s sexy as hell, but not only in the looks department. It’s his complete and utter devotion to Niki, it’s his inability to give up and his refusal to stop loving her despite what every one else thinks. Even though she was gone he never let her go; he was completely dedicated to her and that’s so endearing in a male lead. Even when she was gone he loved her and seeing what that love was able to do was so powerful. Brodi Ashton wrote him perfectly when she crafted him!

When we begin this book it quickly becomes clear that it’s not your traditional girl-meets-boy story but rather a girl-returns to- boy story. The foundation of their relationship has already been set in their friendship and past relationship even before Niki descended into the Everneath and as we read the book we witness them re-connect and reaffirm what’s there, what will proably always be there! I have no clue what Ashton plans to do with the possible Niki/Jack/Cole love triangle or even its implications, but at this point I can clearly see that it’s Niki and Jack’s relationship that is real and strong.

With so much going on amidst Niki’s Return and her place within her worlds, both normal and Everneath, a handful of interesting developments throughout the book lead up to an awful mighty ending, one you sure won’t see coming when you begin the book! I can see oh, so many places where Miss Ashton may go with this series and I look forward to seeing her develop her world some more!

Rating:
Source: Sent for review by Simon & Schuster Australia (Thank-you so very much Caroline!)
Format: Paperback
AU Release Date: March 1st 2012
Expected AU Price: $24.99
Recommend: Yes.
Recommend borrow or buy: Buy it.
Cover: This cover is stunning, simply stunning. Easily one of the best of the year so far!
Read sequel/continue with series: Yes! The ending left me gasping and begging for more!
Challenge: 2012 Debut Author Challenge.