Review for Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Everneath by Brodi Ashton
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Release Date: 2nd February 2012
Genre: Young Adult, Greek Mythology, Re-telling, Romance, Paranormal
Rating: 4/5 stars
Source: Received from the publisher for review

Amazon Summary:
"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..."

Review
After a series of world shattering events in her life Nikki Beckett wants oblivion and so agrees to go to the Everneath with Cole, the enticing immortal, who promises to take Nikki’s pain away. And so that’s where she stays for a century (six months in our time) her feelings and everything that makes her Nikki sucked away by Cole who drains mortals of their emotions in return for eternal life. However Nikki is different from the other Forfeits, instead of emerging from the feed old and senile she’s still seventeen years old and despite being emotionally drained her minds still in one piece. With the feed finished Nikki gets to go home for six months before the Everneath comes to claim her this time for good. And so begins a race against time for Nikki to try and find out why she’s different from the other Forfeits and if she can find a way to escape the Everneath before it comes back to take her forever.

Everneath begins with a brilliant prologue that grabbed my attention straight away but despite the explosive prologue it took me a few chapters to get into this book. I found it to be quite a slow paranormal read at the beginning and I felt that it took a while for the plot to really get going. That being said once I was about a quarter of the way through the pacing really picked up as more and more secrets are revealed about the Everneath and the Immortals. And as Nikki’s time left on earth dwindled down it became a real race against time for her to find a loop hole in her deal with the Everneath.

Whilst I liked the supernatural side to this book what really made this a great read for me was the more realistic themes of grief and redemption. Nikki has to confront the things that happened in the past that made her go to the Everneath with Cole in the first place all the while trying to find redemption, forgiveness and a way to say goodbye to the people she loves. The fact that Nikki had an expiration date on her life was very emotional and really makes you think about how you would spend the last six months of your life if you were in Nikki’s situation. Nikki’s need to say goodbye and leave things on good terms VS the hurt she knows she’s going to put everybody through by leaving again really moved me and I found the blend between myth and real raw emotions to be an interesting one.

The thing that I want to talk about most in this review though is the romance. Romance wise this is the best paranormal story I’ve read in a long time. Not since Maggie Stiefvater’s Shiver series have I been so moved by a relationship. Nikki’s boyfriend Jack is one of the nicest guys I’ve ever read about and he’s now my newest member of swoonworthy book boys. Nikki and Jack would go to hell and back for each other quite literally. And how true and strong their relationship was really struck me as, not a teenage puppy love, but an all-time love. If you’re looking for a brilliant romance I’d highly recommend this one. The tender scenes and bittersweet last kisses in the remaining time they have left together had me fighting back the tears on a few occasions!

Overall I’m really surprised by how much this book touched me, for a paranormal read it certainly wasn’t what I was expecting! This is one of the most beautifully told paranormal romances I’ve read in a while and I’d definitely recommend this heartbreakingly gorgeous re-telling of the Persephone myth.