Everbound by Brodi Ashton

************************** I received this book as an Advanced Reader Copy, this in no way impacts the review that I give this book *******************************************************

Goodreads Summary:

Nikki Beckett could only watch as her boyfriend, Jack, sacrificed himself to save her, taking her place in the Tunnels of the Everneath for eternity — a debt that should’ve been hers. She’s living a borrowed life, and she doesn’t know what to do with the guilt. And every night Jack appears in her dreams, lost and confused and wasting away.

Desperate for answers, Nikki turns to Cole, the immortal bad boy who wants to make her his queen — and the one person least likely to help. But his heart has been touched by everything about Nikki, and he agrees to assist her in the only way he can: by taking her to the Everneath himself.

Nikki and Cole descend into the Everneath, only to discover that their journey will be more difficult than they’d anticipated — and more deadly. But Nikki vows to stop at nothing to save Jack — even if it means making an incredible sacrifice of her own.

In this enthralling sequel to Everneath, Brodi Ashton tests the bonds of destiny and explores the lengths we’ll go to for the ones we love.


My Thoughts:

I actually felt anxious while reading the Everneath parts of this book. It is pretty rare that I feel anxious when reading a story so coo-dos to Brodi Ashton. I was also far less annoyed with the love triangle in this book than I was in the first. I am not sure if that is because Jack wasn't actually there or if the characters were more developed, likely it was a combination of factors.

The Everneath is an odd fantasy world that I liked, and also really disliked. It was interesting but also frustrating. There are a lot of unanswered questions about the Everneath the the High Court, which is pretty normal for the second book in a series. I really started to like Cole in this book, we got a lot more of his history and started to learn more about his motivations.

Overall, I liked this one and I look forward to the next one which likely won't be out for at least a year. I will say I didn't expect the ending, which is a good thing. I would say generally I can see things coming, but I didn't see that ending coming.

I would recommend this book to those who like series books, dystopian books, and possibly mythology lovers.

While writing this review I was listening to snow fall.

Everneath by Brodi Ashton

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.

My thoughts:

I really dug the angle this book took. I have read a lot of books with the love triangle with big crisis but this book has a new take with the outlying story being rooted in mythology. I have never been big on mythology so it was fun for me to learn that stuff right along with the main character Nikki.

I was a little bored with the love triangle aspect because I think it has been done so many times before. Sometimes people fall in love and there isn't a third party. I can see how it was needed for this book, but Jack was a little too predictable as was Cole. I would have liked a little more diversity there, but over all I really enjoyed this read. I read it earlier in the semester and didn't pay enough attention to it to review it, so after I received the second book as an ARC I re-read this one and got a lot more out of it this time. 

I liked that Nikki is more complicated than other female leads. I also like that Nikki doesn't really shy away from her dark and twisty like so many other characters. I wouldn't say that she loves her dark side, but she doesn't really try to hide it either and I liked that.

I would recommend this book to people who enjoy dystopian novels or teen lit. Since I am not sure how close the mythology stuff follows I only have recommend it to mythology lovers.

While writing this review I was listening to coffee brewing.

The Selection by Kiera Cass

Goodreads Summary:

For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself--and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.


My Thoughts:

The first half of this book follows the dystopian genre formula to the T. Enough that I almost put the book down because I have read it all before and better. This being said, once the book got into its own groove, I warmed up to it quite a bit, enough that I intend on reading the follow up book which comes out next year sometime.

The second half, I feel like we, the readers, get to know each character a little better and by that process I started to like them more for the most part. I liked that America loves music, and can get lost in notes. I liked that Maxon admits that he doesn't know everything, which is hard for Prince types to do. I would say I am not a huge fan of Aspen. I never fully warmed to his character, or should I say, lack there of. He seems like the typical scared guy. I feel like I have seen versions of Aspen in a lot of books, and this book like the others doesn't really give me a reason to like him, unless you count the hotness factor (which I don't).

Also, can I just say I am a little tired of a female lead, who is so pretty she thinks she is ug-o. For once I would like someone to be plain, PLAIN JANE and be embraced or loved for who they are rather than the main character having to struggle with accepting outside beauty. This is my compliant with a lot of YA books. Not everyone is gorgeous, but everyone does have something gorgeous about them. I worry these books are just as destructive as magazines that don't show short girls, or heavy girls, or girls who aren't white. Most of us, if not all of us, have something about us that is imperfect. For once I would like to read about a character who struggles with the same things normal people struggle with. Rather than the struggle to accept they are hot. Seriously writers, come up with something else to focus on.

I would recommend this book to dystopian genre lovers, but watch out for that formula for the first half. Beyond dystopian fans I am not sure a lot of people would like this book. I do have hopes that the second is better and not so contrived.

While writing this review I was listening to the wind beat against my windows.