Everneath [Hardcover]

I received this e-ARC for review from the publisher through NetGalley. I did not receive any compensation for my review, and the views expressed herein are my own.

This is Ashton's debut novel, and I found it very hard to put down!

I was immediately drawn to this book because of the gorgeous cover. I love the red/black colour combination, and that dress is simply amazing!

At the beginning of the story, 17 year-old Nikki Beckett is awakening from something called "the Feed." She is with Cole, the Everliving that she was feeding for 100 years in a place known as the Everneath. Cole has been feeding off Nikki's emotions, and she shouldn't have survived the Feed...yet, somehow, she did. Cole wants her to become an immortal, like him, and live with him forever but she wants to return to her home. The only thing that she can remember about her life back on Earth (the "Surface") is a boy with brown eyes and brown hair, and Nikki feels compelled to find him.

Nikki returns from the Everneath to find that only six months have gone by. She cannot explain her absence, and everyone thinks that she became addicted to drugs and simply ran away. No one would believe her if she told them where she really was. Because of Nikki's decision not to remain in the Everneath with Cole, she has only six months on the Surface before she has to return to the Tunnels to power the Everneath for eternity. She is determined to make things right and say her goodbyes and not leave without a trace like the last time. Coming back is a selfless act, because she knows that she cannot stay and that she will only have to return to the Everneath. For Nikki, coming back will make it ultimately more difficult on herself because she has to leave again.

The story jumps back and forth from the present tense with a countdown to her time left on the Surface, to the past tense where we learn about the events that led up to Nikki's trip to the Everneath. I thought that the countdown technique that Ashton employed was cleverly anxiety-provoking! It definitely made me feel uneasy watching Nikki's time wind down, and it make it hard for me to put the book down!

The boy with the brown hair and brown eyes, Jack, was Nikki's boyfriend. What's not to love about Jack? Nikki doesn't make it easy for him to be around her, but he senses that there is more going on than she is letting on and lets her know that he has her back. He never forces her to talk or open up but, rather, waits until she feels ready to let him in. Jack is the type of boyfriend that is every high school girl's dream!

I hate to say it, but I even loved Cole! Despite the fact that Cole is supposed to be the "bad guy," his feelings for Nikki appear to be genuine. I think that Jack said it best: "Trust me, Becks. I know exactly what loving you looks like on a person. And he loves you."

Ashton did a great job with everyone's character development. I loved Nikki's character growth, and my heart just ached for her because she felt that she deserved what she got and that there is no such thing as redemption.

I have always been a fan of mythology, and I love how Ashton integrated it into the story. The ending was a jaw-dropper, and I cannot wait to see what happens next!!

MY RATING: 4 stars! I really enjoyed it and would recommend it!! Thanks to HarperCollins for the opportunity to review this book!

I think that what I enjoyed most about this book was that Nikki was so different from the large majority of female YA characters today. She wasn't an untouchable cage-fighter like Saba, a bow-bearing hunter like Katiss or a whip-wielding gal like Izzy, rather, she was emotionally and mentally strong (and very much kick-butt in her own sense).

In all honesty when I saw that this book jumped around quite a bit in the time sequence (ie. 3 months before the Feed, 2 weeks before the Tunnels, and whatnot) I rolled my eyes and thought to myself, "Ugh... It's going to be one of *those* books" (you know *those* books, the ones that throw a ton of flashbacks at you- flashbacks that you frankly don't care about because all you want to read about is the here-and-now, specifically about how the leads, in this case, Nikki and Jack's, relationship is growing)- but it wasn't in the slightest. In fact, I really enjoyed learning about Nikki and Jack's past, it really made the ending all the more heartbreaking.

All in all, while I was admittedly unfamiliar with the the Greek myth of Persephone I did very much enjoy this book- I think that this is very much one of those books who will appeal to both those already familiar with the tale and those unfamiliar (and admittedly after having read this book I have found myself curious about the myth of Persephone and want to learn more about it).

I was expecting yet another retelling of a familiar Greek story when I began reading Everneath; but instead, I was left breathless, stunned by this creative and daring spin on a story making it something entirely new, fresh, and exciting.

Woven together with grief, hope, and love is one inspring tale that will grow on you more and more over the course of reading it.

Reasons to Read:

1.A retelling & a story of its own:
I was expecting a typical Hades & Persephone myth (which are dime a dozen in YA these days) but I really loved how Brodi Ashton took some familiar elements and themes from the myth and integrated them into her own story; it never really feels like an exact retelling, and creativity abounds. I loved the mythology of the Everneath and Everlivings, and thought it was a fascinating concept to use.

2.Grief & broken hearts:
I was also surprised by how much Everneath dealt with Nikki's (and other's, but particularly Nikki) grief and coming to terms with moving on and letting people go; it's a much heavier aspect of the novel, but one I thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated. But I have to admit... that ending kind of broke my heart a little bit. Okay- more than a little bit. It's a bit of a tearjerker. Be prepared with kleenex.

3.Heartbreaking romance:
Oh boy, is this ever a story of lost love! But there's something really beautiful about it, and the way that Nikki and Jack's relationship comes about just flows so naturally and develops really well (as the story progresses through the flashbacks to explain it). Their relationships just felt so alive to me, and their chemistry was apparent.
Cole, on the other hand, was a character I really did not connect with and I would have liked to have felt some sort of sympathy or connection to him, but I didn't. But overall, that ended up being my sole, miniscule complaint about the book. It's told with a mixture of present day and flashbacks, and I found it easy enough to read and understand.

This was such a fantastic and emotional story that it's quickly moved up to be one of my new favourites! Another strong debut for 2012, and I'm going to be counting down to the sequel starting now!

ARC received from HarperCollins Canada; no other compensation was received.