Future Release Review: Everneath

Title: Everneath

Author: Brodi Ashton site

Format: ARC, 370 pages

Release Date: 1/24/2012

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Source: Received from a friend

“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...”

-Goodreads

How it starts:

Cole, an Everliving, has been Feeding off of Nikki for one hundred years in the underworld of Everneath. Instead of becoming a shriveled old woman, as happens to all Forfeits, Nikki survived intact. Nikki could become an Everliving. However, she decides to go back to the Surface and live out her six months before the Tunnels come for her. On the Surface, only six months have gone by in her absence. All Nikki wants to do is live out her remaining time in peace. But Cole has other ideas. He comes back to the Surface to try to convince Nikki to back with him, and rule over Everneath.  

Characters:

Nikki, the protagonists, character was kind of flat. There wasn’t much of a personality there. Nothing that made her seem like a real live human being. And she did one thing I can’t stand characters doing, she continually chastised herself about being too “selfish”, just for interacting with people. Because not doing so would “save them from future grief” or something.  

Jack, the love interest, has some serious *PCD. Even though there are a million times when it seems like he’s walking away, and understandably so, he stays completely faithful and understanding of Nikki, no matter what happens. He seems not to have any flaws, other than being self sacrificing toward Nikki. No one is that perfect.

I’m not really sure how to categorize Cole. He’s kind of posed as a love interest and/or villain. But Nikki makes it clear from the beginning that she’ll never be interested, and he’s not really villainous material. He comes off as just trying to help Nikki make the decision he thinks is right. I liked him best out of the three, though if he’s going to be considered the opposition, he needs to grow a back bone and do something to make the audience dislike him more. Like kicking puppies or something. That would really get some hate mail.  

Plot:

The plot did have a few surprises up it’s sleeve. And it wasn’t as riddled with clichés as many other supernatural romances out there, though Everneath did have it’s moments. The ending however was very disappointing. It was way too predictable, and cliché. (I just noticed I use the term “cliché” a lot. I’ll have to look up some synonyms.)

Point of View:

Just the tried and true First Person.

Overall:

I didn’t get anything special from the characters, and the plot was kind of give and take. What really kept me reading from the get-go was the unique world that was created.  It is for that reason alone that I would recommend reading Everneath. I’m giving it 3 of 5 stars for being very in the middle.

Emma-isms:

*PCD stands for Perfect Character Disorder. I usually use this term when a character is portrayed as unrealistically perfect. (i.e. always understanding, hansome/beautiful, without fault, ect.)