Review: Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Released: 24th Jan (US) 2nd Feb (UK)

Publisher: HarperCollins (US) Simon&Schuster Children's Books (UK)

Rating: 4/5

Goodreads description:

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:

I was dragged into this book from the very first chapter--it draws you in, making you wonder what's going on,desperate to find out more. It was a really clever beginning. It's rare that I'm drawn into a story so early on, and this was definitely one of those times.  I love the back and forth narration--allowing you to see the present and the past at once. It was less confusing, removed the need for endless exposition and kept the story interesting. It wasn't hard to follow because each section was clearly labelled. I loved how it counted down the time left in her Return--it added a frantic feel to the story that I appreciated. 

I really liked Nikki. Her struggle to regain the emotions she thought she'd lost forever was really touching, as was her desire to make amends for leaving. I connected with her pretty much immediately. she was a really sympathetic character. She had resigned herself to her fate, but not in a negative "I've given up" way. She was strong, she resisted Cole despite the attractiveness of what he offered her, and I really respected her.  The only thing that bugged me about Nikki was the reason she went to the Everneath at all. It felt more like a plot device than a genuine reason. Plus, whilst I loved the absence of emotion in the present scenes, I felt this sometimes spilled over to the flashbacks, removing some of their impact. Having said that, this technique worked really well in the present. Funnily enough, they were still really emotive. I ached for Nikki, for the emotions she did feel and struggled with, for her emptiness. For her pain at interacting with Jack. 

Jack and Cole may seem like the traditional 'good' and 'bad' boy characters, but both are so much more. Jack is sweet, considerate, understanding and yet at the same time he's pretty tough. He's not all goody-goody and he's not a doormat. I was almost swayed over to the goodside (I said ALMOST) as a result of him. Cole was...confusing. and confused. He has trouble understanding and expressing the fact he had feelings (what kind of feelings I don't think anyone knows) for Nikki and so fell back on traditional badboy behaviour (snark, smirks, jealousy-inducing actions). I liked that the boys were a bit more layered and a bit less stereotypical. They were recognisable as typical YA love interests, yet different enough that I didn't find myself sighing in annoyance at yet another interchangeable boy. 

In fact, that's the main thing I liked about Everneath. It followed the formula, but it diverged from it in ways that made it interesting and unique and yet didn't feel like it was being different for the sake of it. The solution to Nikki's problem wasn't easy to find. There was no convenient internet page will all the answers (seriously, I HATE that. The internet has ruined research in stories). The answers had to be pieced together gradually, from different sources and with increasing urgency. 

My absolute favourite part was the second-to-last chapter. So brave. So much happened in that short space of time, and I was left thinking "wow, I can't believe she had the balls to end it like that!" But then I read the last chapter and realised it was going to be a series and felt...a little disappointed. Like the author had backed out of the ending she really wanted. I mean, it's good there's going to be MORE but...I really liked what I thought was the ending. That's mainly what lost a point for me...

Overall, Everneath is a fascinating read. The characters are well developed, the story is the paranormal, mythology-based fiction we all love with careful twists and a delightful lack of cliches. It's beautifully and cleverly written, a must-read for anyone. 

Everneath has already been released in the US and is released in the UK on the 2/2/12 by Simon & Schuster UK. 

Review: Half-Blood by Jennifer Armentrout

Half-Blood (Covenant #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Published: 18th October 2011

Publisher: Spencer Hill Press

Rating: 5/5

Goodreads description:

The Hematoi descend from the unions of gods and mortals, and the children of two Hematoi-pure-bloods-have godlike powers. Children of Hematoi and mortals-well, not so much. Half-bloods only have two options: become trained Sentinels who hunt and kill daimons or become servants in the homes of the pures.Seventeen-year-old Alexandria would rather risk her life fighting than waste it scrubbing toilets, but she may end up slumming it anyway. There are several rules that students at the Covenant must follow. Alex has problems with them all, but especially rule #1:Relationships between pures and halfs are forbidden.Unfortunately, she's crushing hard on the totally hot pure-blood Aiden. But falling for Aiden isn't her biggest problem--staying alive long enough to graduate the Covenant and become a Sentinel is. If she fails in her duty, she faces a future worse than death or slavery: being turned into a daimon, and being hunted by Aiden. And that would kind of suck.

My thoughts:

The first thing that struck me about this novel was its similarity to the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead. It’s fairly similar on several counts; the three species, all separated from general humankind and existing within a hierarchy (Pures, Halfs, Daimons); the main character, Alex bore a resemblance to Rose Hathaway; her trainer Aiden, a younger, non-Russian Dimitri Belikov;  the school where the pures and halfs were taught side by side being the main ones. Not to say that’s a bad thing, I’d personally rather an author took inspiration from such an amazing series over ones more readily used.

I found the concept really interesting, the idea of the descendents of the demi-gods  still existing and still obeying their long-absent gods. In fact, this is definitely my favourite mythology-based book to date.  It wasn’t too overly reliant on any particular myth yet it exploited the nature of the mythology perfectly, and built on it to create a believable and realistic world.

I found Alex kind of annoying initially-the first thing she does when she gets back to the Covenant is start a fight despite being threatened with servitude-something she claims to fear yet is constantly on the brink of as a result of her behaviour.  Her overconfidence in her abilities was also really irritating- but like all similar characters she quickly became someone you loved and rooted for. Alex’s relationship with Aiden developed nicely, again reminiscent of Rose and Dimitri’s relationship. I’m always a fan of the exploitation of the tension that arises from physical activity between a couple who had an instant attraction-I think it’s a very believable way to develop a romantic plotline, along with the fondness and inevitable closeness that comes from a mentor mentee bond. Aiden and Alex were very much the stars of the show, the other characters felt underdeveloped in comparison, though I would like to see more of Deacon in the later books.

The romantic plotline was clearly central to the book, but I really enjoyed the non-romantic side of it. Aside from some overly-obvious foreshadowing which gave away a key plot point I found the rest to be interesting and attention grabbing and I was desperately reading this to find out what happened. There was a great sense of tension and anticipation that resulted from reading this book, which, despite the flaws mentioned, made it a gripping read. It’s hard to write that level of suspense into a book and Ms. Armentrout did it spectacularly. The plot itself was satisfying, plenty happened, it definitely didn’t suffer from first book syndrome and yet it’s clear to see where the rest of the series will go, without it being too predictable.

If you’re a fan of the Vampire Academy series, you with either love or hate this this book as a result of its obvious similarities-even though I did notice them (which is probably just down to my familiarity with what is one of my favourite series’) it definitely didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the book at all.
I definitely give this 5/5 and I cannot wait for the next instalment, Pure. 

To celebrate the release of this fantastic book, I have a set of SIGNED bookmarks to give away! The winner will get a Half-Blood, Daimon AND Pure bookmark, as well as a bookmark for Jennifer's 2012 release CURSED.

Giveaway is INTERNATIONAL and will close on 24th October! To enter, simply leave a meaningful comment about this review along will an email address/twitter username to contact you on if you win!

Review: Wildefire

Wildefire by Karsten Knight
Published: 26th July 2011
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Goodreads description:

Every flame begins with a spark.

Ashline Wilde is having a rough sophomore year. She’s struggling to find her place as the only Polynesian girl in school, her boyfriend just cheated on her, and now her runaway sister, Eve, has decided to barge back into her life. When Eve’s violent behavior escalates and she does the unthinkable, Ash transfers to a remote private school nestled in California’s redwoods, hoping to put the tragedy behind her. But her fresh start at Blackwood Academy doesn’t go as planned. Just as Ash is beginning to enjoy the perks of her new school—being captain of the tennis team, a steamy romance with a hot, local park ranger—Ash discovers that a group of gods and goddesses have mysteriously enrolled at Blackwood…and she’s one of them. To make matters worse, Eve has resurfaced to haunt Ash, and she’s got some strange abilities of her own. With a war between the gods looming over campus, Ash must master the new fire smoldering within before she clashes with her sister one more time… And when warm and cold fronts collide, there’s guaranteed to be a storm.

My thoughts:

I was drawn into this book immediately; the way Karsten Knight writes is both entertaining and imaginative. Unfortunately it mostly went downhill from there. A lot of people have commented that they found Ash to be too violent, but it wasn’t the violence that bugged me-it was the constant changes to her personality. One minute she’s like “violence is the answer” and the next she’s being all diplomatic. She’s a total prude at one point then invites an older guy she barely knows into her school dorm room.

 I didn’t really see the need for the 8 month gap between the first and second parts, nor was it explained what the purpose of this gap was. Yes okay, she moved schools but why pick 8months later? It was such an arbitrary amount of time.The ending before the second interlude threw me as well, the parts just did not relate. I’m trying not to give too much away, but after the interlude it was as though the part beforehand just hadn’t happened. I didn’t get how we’d moved from that to the next bit.

I found the character dialogue really entertaining but it was all the same. They might as well have all been the same character for the difference it made. The only distinctions in their personalities were the ones we were told were there, they all appeared the same with their pithy comebacks and sarky commentary. Whilst I enjoy that, I think sacrificing character development for funny one-liners is not a good policy. 

Ash’s relationship with Colt both confused and disturbed me. It’s mentioned at one point that he was a minor the previous year which would make him 21, right? And Ash is 16 and at school. There was just something about that that didn’t sit right with me. Plus the whole “I saw you in a bar and knew if I didn’t speak to you I’d regret it the rest of my life” sorry, what? Not only does that make me want to vomit, it’s so unrealistic. I’ve seen plenty of fit people in bars, but I don’t regret not talking to them like, a week later let alone remember them 40 years down the line. How can you have such a strong reaction after seeing someone briefly in a darkened room? Also, I’m 21 and I definitely don’t fancy 16 year olds. Sorry to come back to that point but it really bugged me. 

The main thing that really bugged me was how easily the characters adapted to their roles. It was just like “okay”. I really didn’t get that at all. Surely you’d like, doubt it a bit? And then they could use their powers so easily, no training or practise required; they can jump into combat mode automatically. I felt this was unrealistic and felt a bit like the author didn't want to waste time having them hone their skills but given that I felt there was alot of excess pages in this I definitely think it could have been squeezed in somewhere. 

The last 50 pages were definitely the best part of the book. A lot happened and it happened fast. Some of it I expected but the majority of it I didn’t. The end pretty much saved the book for me; whilst I enjoyed it, nothing much happened for the first part and I felt like a lot was unexplained, not in the sense that it would be elaborated on in the later books but that it just wasn’t made clear enough for me to fully understand what was going on. I think some of the middle of the book could easily have been sacrificed to make for a more concise and less confusing book. 

All in all, I give it 2/5. It was enjoyable and an interesting take on mythology, but I’m not desperate for the sequel.