Review: Everneath (Everneath #1) by Brodi Ashton

Published: January 24, 2012 by Balzer + Bray
Genre: YA, Paranormal Fantasy
Format: ebook
Source: purchased

Goodreads Summary

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.

"Heroes don't exist. And if they did, I wouldn't be one of them."

The Good

Everneath was a strange read told from the POV of Nikki Beckett, also called 'Becks' and 'Nik' by various characters. If you watch Once Upon a Time, it does a similar thing with time whereas there are alternating chapters of 'Now' and chapters going back in time to explain how she ended up where she is. I quite liked this setup, but it made for getting information on the Everlings and Everneath a little bit at a time.

This is a story that references Hades and Persephone and actually has the characters researching these  and more ancient Greeks for more information to their plight. I have read a lot about Hades and Persephone, as it's a myth that I enjoy. This was definitely a part of the story that grabbed me and had me wanting to know more.

Our main character Nikki has made some very poor choices in life to get her in these dire circumstances. Part of what made me like the story so much was that it made me FEEL. Even though she is trying to hide from her fate now and is still not making the best choices, she is doing better and that has to count for something. I felt for all the characters in the story though, even the anti-hero Cole. He's not really a villain so to speak as he has no 'evil' intentions, but he is definitely not a good guy either. No one is having an easy time of it in Everneath.

The Bad

There's definitely some more information that I'm looking for here. I don't understand why only six months pass above while the Feed takes a century in Everneath. Like why is Cole mixing up Osiris from Egyptian myth with the Greek Persephone myth? I also would really like to understand why they send 'food' down to the Queen all the time yet the Everlings go down to recharge for a century of feeding. As you can see, while we get some information about this world and its intricacies, we're left without quite a lot of the why's and how's. So to incredibly enjoy this read, you just have to go with it.

The Romance

Like I said, some may see a love triangle here, but I just don't. Cole is interested in Nikki. She is a possibility for him to get out of his current standing and enjoy some better living. Yes, he's a musician, and smoking hot, and the one with powers, but Nikki's heart is clearly with Jack. The ex that hurt her and that she hurt as well by leaving for six months with no explanation. There's a lot of hurt here, but the romance is important to the story as Nikki thinks consistently about Jack and their relationship.

Conclusion

An enjoyable read for sure. There are elements to the world that I quite liked while there are also some elements that I would like explained better in future books. The characters are all in pain for the moment but I can see them growing already and I see the potential for a lot of growth over the series. It was definitely interesting and I read it exceptionally quickly.

Excerpts

"Friends don't eat friends' souls."

Jack shook his head. "I can't believe we're having this conversation." He ran his hand through his hair, and a part of it stuck straight up. I wanted to reach over and fix it. "I mean, I thought you were getting high."
"I know. Everyone did. They still do."
"But I should've known better."

I realized how much had changed. On the other side of a century, I had wanted to feel less, not more. Maybe most teenagers wouldn't think like that, but when the drunk driver killed my mom, I wanted more than to stop feeling sad. I wanted to stop feeling. Period. I wanted it so bad that when Cole offered to make it happen, I went to the Everneath with him. Willingly.