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In a land where three suns almost never set, a fledgling killer joins a school of assassins, seeking vengeance against the powers who destroyed her family. Daughter of an executed traitor, Mia Corvere is barely able to escape her father's failed rebellion with her life. Alone and friendless, she hides in a city built from the bones of a dead god, hunted by the Senate and her father's former comrades. But her gift for speaking with the shadows leads her to the door of a retired killer, and a future she never imagined. Now, a sixteen year old Mia is apprenticed to the deadliest flock of assassins in the entire Republic--the Red Church. Treachery and trials await her with the Church's halls, and to fail is to die. But if she survives to initiation, Mia will be inducted among the chosen of the Lady of Blessed Murder, and one step closer to the only thing she desires. Revenge.… (more)
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This is the first offering in a fantasy trilogy that's epic in scope and tells a very dark and thrilling tale full of blood, murder, revenge, intrigue and betrayal; the parallels to Game of Thrones are obvious. I was doubtful at first whether I should order the book when it was offered up for review, but because I very much enjoyed the first two volumes Jay Kristoff's Lotus War series (the third volume yet to be read), with a strong heroine and an engaging and imaginative plot, and because the cover art of Nevernight looked intriguing, to say the least, I ordered it, even though the synopsis gave me the distinct impression that this wasn't something I'd normally pick up from the shelf. After reading the opening chapter, I really thought I had made a serious mistake and that I wouldn't be able to finish the book if it continued in very much the same vein. To be clear: if you can get past the detailed descriptions of a murder being committed that almost glorify the violence, and scenes of a sexual nature that appear almost pornographic, then there is much to enjoy in this door stopper of a novel with its nearly 650 pages.
Kristoff's world building is phenomenal: not only does he create a physical world from scratch with its different lands, inhabitants, cities and landscapes, but an entire belief system, along with philosophy and history, cultures and traditions. A lot of this achieved through the use of footnotes, which at times are rather extensive and in danger of disrupting the narrative. This device, along with the rather sarcastic voice of the narrator, reminded me heavily of the Bartimaeus books by Jonathan Stroud, and I'm sure that a lot of readers will just skip over them; to me they added to the rich tapestry that was being woven by the author. To avoid too close comparisons with the medieval world created by George R.R. Martin in his epic series A Song of Ice and Fire, Kristoff has chosen to place his setting in a version of the Roman Empire, which, because of the struggle between loyalists true to the king and supporters of the Senate, at the heart of the enfolding plot, works very well. Throw in a bit of magik, a mysterious origin myth and shadow creatures, and you have a recipe for success. I found the amount of violence, and the detailed descriptions, a little hard to take – but then what do you expect when you have a novel set in a school for assassins? – along with a romantic storyline that wasn't always convincing; to me highlights were a thrilling pursuit in the Whisperwastes and the trials the apprentices of the Red Church were subjected to in order to find those who are most worthy of becoming a Blade in the service of the Mother, and I enjoyed the power plays, betrayals and intrigues more than the gut-wrenching violence. Once a certain stage in the novel has been reached, the tension almost never lets up, and there are some genuine surprises and a few well-delivered shocks in store.
Several questions arising throughout the length of the novel remain unanswered, and the ending throws up a few new ones, both of which serve to whet the appetite for volume no. 2. A word of warning, though: if you have an aversion to blood, I would advise staying clear of this book as there is a lot of it, and the author skilfully manages to evoke both the taste and smell of it, so that even I as a former nurse felt slightly nauseated at the descriptions.
(This review was written for Amazon's Vine programme.)
There is
I received an ARC from NetGalley
In
If there was ever a need for more strong female heroines, Mr. Kristoff answers the call by giving the world Mia. Simply, Mia kicks major ass. She is lethal; in a secret society that prides itself on one’s body count, hers is a large number. She is intelligent; she manages to stay one step ahead of pretty much everyone through street smarts and impressive deductive reasoning skills. She is kind; even though her life’s goal is revenge on those who tore her family to pieces, she still understands the value of life and knows between right and wrong. She knows what she wants and is willing to do almost anything to achieve that, but it is in the almost where she truly shines. While Mia may not be someone you want to meet on a dark alley (not that you would ever see her), it is safe to say that if you do end up on her list, there is a good reason for it.
The world in which she learns her craft is intriguing. To add to the mystery, Mr. Kristoff ensures that readers never learn more than Mia at any given time. Much like the outside world he based on real-life locations, the macabre finishing school of the Red Church is eerily similar to other boarding school stories. There is the small group of students who live together in a dorm area. The classes are demanding, as is the staff. There is the cafeteria and trips to “town” to blow off steam. Yet, this school is unlike anything you have seen in previous novels. Learning these differences alongside Mia is half the fun of the novel.
In Nevernight, Mr. Kristoff creates one of the most fascinating fantasy worlds that you will find. He does an excellent job balancing world-building with storytelling so that you never feel lost in this strange new world. His characters are intricate and well-developed but with plenty of unplumbed depths to explore in future stories. Mia’s world is dark and brutal, and Mr. Kristoff does not skimp on the gory details. However, he never includes gore for gore’s sake. Everything is masterfully crafted so that readers learn just enough to whet their appetites, to fully appreciate the dangers of Mia’s life, and to understand the moral trade-offs Mia must enact in order to maintain her sanity when it would be so easy to lose herself to the darkness. There is no doubt there is plenty left to discover about Mia’s past and present, which only kicks your anticipation up a level as the wait begins for the second book in the novel. It is going to be a long wait.
The first 1/4 is a bit slow, but it is character and world building. I found this information necessary to fully appreciate who Mia is as a person and the world in which she lives. There are very graphic sexual and violent i.e. murder scenes that I would not recommend this for a YA. I look forward to reading the next book in the series and seeing where and what Mia gets up to.
I loved the twists and turns and how she kept going, parts of the end were heartbreaking but I was left wanting more.
Otherwise, it was a well-paced story with great world-building and an intriguing murder
While this sounds like a fascinating story, and while I love the concepts behind everything and even the characters, I never really got into this book. More
So as excited as I was by the blurb and the concepts and what I knew of the story... I can't say I enjoyed this. I should have... but the style of all of this put me off, and I needed more depth in some areas, and less in others. I'm afraid I can't recommend this. I'm sure it's someone's cup of tea, but not mine.
This was the best read I had in a rather long time. I.e. since Patrick Rothfuss' "The Wise Man's Fear".
I simply love the extremely edgy characters and their biting humour, and to my surprise also the setting. I'm usually not too fond of Italian renaissance, but this was just the perfect
Can't help it but I need to read the second one...
There's a narrator. I love narrators. The narrator uses footnotes to build the world. I love footnotes. (I really need to tackle Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell.) The
Mia is an anti-hero and there's probably a lot of women I'd rather meet in a dark alley late at night, if possible I'd like not to meet Mia under such circumstances. She's quite deadly but so well developed.
All characters are well developed and the story is uplifting in places, downright depressing in others, always bloody, always a bit scary and mostly laced with 'what the hell?' THESE ARE CHILDREN YOU MONSTER. (Looking at the author here.)
The plot is filled with twists and is interesting throughout, there wasn't a single slow moment. The romance is amazing. Did you hear that? For once the romance is amazing!
This is a brilliant book and I highly recommend it to all fantasy fans that don't mind a young protagonist. If you're worried about the narrator and the somewhat purple prose, just read the first chapter, it'll tell you everything you need to know.
This is not a novel that is light-hearted. You are reading a story about assassins and as such, this novel is grim and dark and full of complexity.
I am not a fan of lengthy descriptions and overusage of metaphors and similes. But it worked for this novel. The first chapter that I encountered was written in alternating paragraph form, depicting 2 distinctly different scenes in a similar manner. It hooked me. It was such a unique and interesting way to write and as soon as I read it, I had to reread it again to make sure of what I had just read. It was one of those woah-epiphany moments for me, and after that, I was captivated by the writing style employed in this novel. I loved that there were footnotes included that gave little funny tidbits from an unknown sarcastic narrator. I enjoyed having glimpses between the past and the present, and the way the author wrote made it a mystery as to who is actually on Mia's side and who is a potential threat.
Overall, I found this book spellbinding from the start, with its unique (and humorous) prose, its sinister plot, and its amazing characters. I am anxiously waiting to read Godsgrave, the next novel in this series!
All the characters were so well defined - and I adored Tric. I know some readers develop book boy crushes and he'd be mine!
This is YA but there are some seriously sexy scenes which are written so well that my jaw dropped! Ha ha... If I ever want to write sexy scenes I better bookmark these!
The plot and world building were phenomenal. I was a little kind of oh, please tell me this is not happening.... by something that occurred towards the end of the novel, but no spoilers...
I wish I had read Nevernight before I started writing The Curse of Time as there were so many parallels and that made me go WOW... In A Massive YEAH WAY! It should be compulsory reading for all fantasy authors! Definitely a favourite. No doubts I will continue with this series and read Godsgrave.
After reading Illuminae by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman last fall, I was completely blown away and want to read everything that these two put out. So when I heard about Nevernight, I knew I had to get my hands on it ASAP! I was
I may not be much of a cat person but Mister Kindly is a beautiful, lovely shadow, not cat. I loved his dialogue.
I overall enjoyed most of the dialogue between characters, some of it was a little humorous. None of the "twists" really surprised me, I found I saw most of them coming a mile away. I
Something else I found to be lacking was how the red church "school/competition" was written. It definitely had the opportunity to be stronger if it had been more developed instead of having more of a focus on Mia and her crew. In turn, I think better world development would have made the novel more intriguing and the environment the characters were in more meaningful as well as unique.
***UPDATE*** I just remembered that I also really liked Bastard the horse. Also, my inner teacher spirit would be the poison teacher but a whole lot meaner, just say'in.
But
Mia, the girl who lived thanks to her shadow. She is a brave 10 year old when we start her story standing below the gallows where is father is to be hung. Holding the hand of her mother who preached that she
Her life’s desire leads her to a school for assassins. a brutal, cold an heartless place. Friends are questionable, trust is unwise, punishments are severe, trials are deadly. So many secrets, and they are buried deep, some in the formidable library, some in the minds of the unwilling or lost to the dead, the answers could kill them all or save them. That is the trick, and the genius of the story, nobody knows what is under their noses.
I loved all the characters, I wanted to know more, to know them better even the nasty, wicked evil, repulsive ones. They are written with just enough information to complete the picture but not enough to color it in. The colors come slowly, characters true natures changed and I was left gobsmacked.
I loved the shadows out of this one. The ending, omg the ending. I need time to breath again to write a review. If I meet Mr. Kristoff I'm going to Thump him upside the head, he killed off…..Grrrrrrrr ,Mr. Devious Author ! It is not the first book I’ve read from him I love his Lotus War series, and yes I did squeal with delight when offered a chance to review this. Thank you, Mr Kristoff and St. Martins Press.
"...too many books. Too few centuries." -One of my favorite quirky characters said these words.
I'm not usually one to write reviews, but here are some of my thoughts on the book. Call it a review if you'd like. This is for the Audiobook version.
The book starts off with a weird duality of the same
Speaking of flowers, the descriptions and the writing style are very flowery and sometimes it got to be a bit much. It also felt at times like the author was trying too hard to be edgy.
It took a while to get the story going. By the third chapter it seemed the main character was still being introduced and no story was yet being told. At least not in the present timeline. At first, it seemed this book intended to use the classic two timeline thing, which I'm not all that into. However, after the story got going properly the timeline switches were reduced to occasional scenes, which is totally fine. At some point after it got going, I did start to enjoy the story.
There are explicit sex scenes. I'm not sure how I feel about them. I don't know if it's the writing, narration, or if I'm just not used to sex being described so explicitly in a book. Though I have read a few that had fairly explicit scenes, this felt even more so. It didn't bother me, but I didn't really enjoy either.
I'm often pretty good at catching the twist early, but this time it surprised me. Though I did place my suspicions correctly at one point, the red-herring was done well enough that I bought it. After the reveal, everything fell into place quite nicely.
Slow start, overly flowery descriptions and the occasional try-hard edgy writing aside, it's still a good book. Not amazing, but good. Probably a 3.5, but I decided to round it down.
“Never flinch.
In a land of three suns, where darkness falls just once a year, a young girl hides amongst the shadows. Mia Corvere, the orphaned daughter of a highborn family, is determined to avenge the murders of her parents and younger brother by the corrupt members of The Republic, no matter the cost. Chance leads her to the door of a mentor who prepares her to join the Red Church, a secretive organisation of assassins where she may earn a position as a Blade of the Lady of Blessed Murder, and thus the skill to vanquish her enemies, if she can survive among a hall of killers to graduate.
Nevernight is an entertaining fast paced read, offering plenty of action, intrigue and interesting worldbuilding. Though the main thrust of the plot isn’t particularly unique, Kristoff does add his own imaginative touches so that the story doesn’t feel stale, and I was quickly engrossed in the tale from the first few pages.
Mia is plucky, pragmatic, deadly and determined, but it’s her gift of weaving shadows that gives her an edge as an assassin. Mis doesn’t really understand her ability, she thinks of it as something that found her, in the form of Mr Kindly - a cat made of shadows that also feeds on her fear, rather than something that is part of her. I liked Mia a lot, like all fantasy heroines she has a streak of idealism that conflicts with her ability to create mayhem and murder. The cutthroat competition of the Red Church apprenticeship isn’t always easy for her, especially when it pits her against those she has befriended.
Nevernight is both more violent and more sexually suggestive, and explicit, than I expected, as I was under the mistaken impression it was considered a YA novel. This wasn’t an issue for me, but it’s perhaps important to note that despite its teenage protagonist, Nevernight is written for an adult audience.
The overall tone of Nevernight is quite dark, what with deaths and monsters, but there is also plenty of wit and sarcasm which I appreciated. I confess Nevernight occasionally feels a touch overwritten, but not so much that I cared, I enjoy a creative metaphor and Kristoff supplies plenty. I can take or leave the author’s fetish for footnotes though, I found it easiest to read through them at the end of each chapter.
An exciting tale of love and loss, bloodshed and betrayal, dark and light, Nevernight is the first book in the Nevernight Chronicle trilogy. Godsgrave and Darkdawn are already available, I hope to read both soon.
PSA: Nevernight is not YA (contrary to some misleading shelving by librarians and bookstores). Solidly NA or
Sadly for me, I found it terribly boring and the sex scenes were very explicit, not that I am a prude but this is marked as a YA book (on GR at least) so there really is no need for it. The footnotes in the
I gave it a 3 star as some of the book was okay, but I won't be continuing with the series.
I mean, those aren't the only two options, but it is weird to me how much I enjoyed this book about a religion of
Perhaps because I like revenge stories and school stories, and Nevernight fulfilled on both those fronts.
All in all, good book.