Book Thoughts: Everbound

Title: Everbound
Author: Brodi Ashton
Series: Everneath #2

*Warning! Spoilers for Everneath*

I am in love with this series.

In this second installment of the trilogy, Nikki sets out to rescue Jack from the Everneath -- but to do that, she's going to have to trust Cole, something she has sworn not to do. It won't be an easy journey, and it's going to take all Nikki has to get through it, if she can at all.

I just. I know finding your "forever" love in high school is unusual, but I simply adore the relationship between Jack and Nikki. I love the flashbacks where we get to see their life together before the Everneath, and I love how much faith Nikki has in him. I also really love the relationship between Nikki and Cole: it isn't quite love, but it's something real. I like that it's a love triangle without being a love triangle -- Nikki and Jack are in love, plain and simple; Nikki does not love Cole and she knows that, but he complicates things for other reasons.

I love Brodi Ashton's writing style. I adore her conception of the Underworld and the influence of mythology (because hey, I'm a mythology geek, and if you'll play to that, you're already well on your way to winning me over). I loved getting to explore more of the Everneath in this book.

And I love that there is no middle-book syndrome here! EVERBOUND is a complete story in and of itself, certainly reliant on the previous book but definitely NOT mere filler between the beginning and the end of the trilogy.

Oh, and the other thing I loved? The plot twist. I didn't see it coming, but I should have. Can't wait for book three!

Book Thoughts: Everneath

Title: Everneath
Author: Brodi Ashton
Series: Everneath #1
*Imported from tumblr*

I did not think that I was going to enjoy this one, but I could not have been more wrong.

Nikki Beckett, back on earth after a hundred years — or a few months, depending on whose perspective you’re looking at — in the Everneath, has six months to say goodbye to her family before being sucked back to the underworld forever. Whatever emotions she has left will be used to power the immortals who live in the Everneath and feed off of willing mortals. When she left, Nikki didn’t want her life anymore, but now that she’s back and has six months to say goodbye forever, she’ll do anything to stay aboveground — and to win back the love of the boy whose memory saved her in the Everneath.

I don’t feel like I’ve done the book any sort of justice with that summary. Yes, it’s got your obligatory YA-romance-love-triangle - two smokin’ hot guys fighting over the girl. But Everneath is far from the stereotype. In fact, one of my favorite things about the novel was the way Nikki’s relationships with Cole and Jack were developed. And Brodi Ashton’s twist on immortality and the underworld? LOVE. Also, I’m a total mythology geek, so the parallels to Orpheus and Eurydice and also to Hades and Persephone were super cool. My only complaint was that some of the narrative time-jumps were a little weird at first.

It’s definitely a romance novel, but there’s a lot more to it than just that, and I for one can’t wait to get my hands on the sequel.