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...
For me, Everneath was one of those books that I took so long getting into that I didn't think that I would enjoy it in the end, but it totally pulled it back for me and by the end I was gripped, which kind of sucks because this book ended on a horrible cliffhanger and I have to wait soooo long for the next book!
Like I stated above, this book didn't have a particularly good start for me and it took me maybe a quarter of the book to get into, in fact I think that if I hadn't been on a really long car journey with nothing but my kindle to keep me entertained I probably would have given up, I am so glad that I didn't. A few chapters in the story really picked up and I was gripped and could not put it down.
i think at the beginning I couldn't get into it because I just could not find any parts of Nikki's character to like, and I struggled with getting to know her throughout the whole book, at times she would show a spark of spunkiness but for most of it she was pretty bland. it would be easy to put this down to the fact that she had just spent one hundred years getting her emotions sucked out of her but I think she was just a boring character. I was worried that this might just be a lack of skill in Ashton's writing, but her other characters were so well written. Cole was dangerous, scary but also vulnerable, whilst he comes across as a hard guy we can see his true feelings at times so I actually started to care about Cole, Jack was sweet and cute but also funny and he shows hurt and pain as well, I loved how easily he welcomed Nikki back. I think that this is one of the few books where I've liked both boys that are competing for the girl's attention.
The writing wasn't anything particularly special, it read like most other female narrated YA novels, but the pacing was good, the story was well planned out so it flowed, as well as creative. I loved the imaginative approach that Ashton put on Egyption and Greek mythology, it's one of the better 'Hades and Persephone' type books that I have read lately and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The ending is a big cliffhanger that had me in tears at 2am when I read it, so I'm warning you about that!
Overall, I totally enjoyed this book, despite taking some time to get into it by the end I was gripped. There were some main character issues but the supporting cast make up for this. Definitely one to look out for in 2012.
Overall Rating: A-
Book due for release through HarperCollins (Balzer + Bray) 24th January 2012
recieved as an eGalley for review through NetGalley
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