Everneath

I really wanted to like it. And I did! Just not ... "It's so awesome, read it or I'll take your family hostage"-awesome, if you know what I mean. I felt like I was watching/reading a play, where I knew exactly that the people on stage were acting and that's especially true for the side characters

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like Jules.

Cole behaves irrationally, and I never really got him either. I feel like there is a whole big chunk missing in the beginning. It starts when the Feed (I.D. where Cole sucks Nikki dry of emotions) ends and I had no idea what was even happening. That got better as the novel progressed, but sadly not enough as to understand what actually transpired. I mean, I know the gist of it. But the logistics? How it looked like in the Everneath? No idea, really. And that's the biggest short falling of this novel in my opinion because I need to know what happens in order to invest in the people, in order to root for them.

Generally, though, I liked the plot. I may be getting a bit tired of the Hades and Persephone myth (I have 5 books released in 2011 on my shelf that center around that myth), though. BUT finally a book where a girl is in love with a guy her age! Not some centuries-old supernatural creature! Well, that creature is there of course, and available! But so far, Nikki remains steadfast and with Jack.

Oh Jack. I think I may have fallen in love with him a little bit. He seems like such a sweetheart. A bit impulsive maybe, but definitely smitten with Nikki. In fact, it was a bit painful to read, especially for Jules. But still, they make a great couple even against all those odds. I think Ashton made Jack react wonderfully, to me he was the character that I believed the most. I kept looking forward to his appearances. Also, characters that are football players and nice are far too uncommon I think. I hardly think that EVERY football player on this earth is a jerk.

So after sleeping on the rating, I decided on three stars. Why? Mostly because I kept thinking about how when I finished this book I could start another. I didn't necessarily want to finish it, just for finding out what actually happens. I wanted to finish it to start another book. Obviously that's a bad sign. Still, it was a nice read.

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The beautiful cover for “Everneath” is originally what drew my interest to the story, and while I didn’t completely love it, I did enjoy it.

Nikki Beckett vanished one night, without a trace. Everyone thought she’d run away, that she was on drugs. But Nikki is being held in the Everneath,

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where she’s being held as part of the Feed. When she finally wakes up in Cole’s arms, she finds herself unable to remember much of anything other than a boy’s face. A boy that isn’t Cole. When he tells her to come with him, to rule the Everneath, she decides to return home – in search of the boy, in search of her old life. But after her return, she only has six months until the tunnels come looking for her, and this time, there will be no returning.

I think the thing that I love most about Nikki is just how selfless she is. She has the chance to rule the Everneath with Cole, to live forever – all she’d need to do is feed. But she chooses the tunnels, an eternity of hell, instead because she doesn’t want to have to feed off of others as Cole has done to her.

I’m not a huge fan of love triangles, mainly as I feel as though most of them are forced. But with Cole and Jack, it worked. You have Jack, the best friend turned boyfriend, and then you have Cole, the mysterious guy who is there when Nikki needs her. Jack goes crazy when Nikki disappears, unwilling to give up on her returning. And Cole, who seems to have been changed by Nikki, refuses to give up on making her his queen. Both boys are complete opposites, but they are both in love with Nikki.

Jack’s decision in the end seemed a bit predictable, but I am eager to see what happens next. There’s no way Nikki is going to give up, and it’s evident that Cole isn’t willing to leave without Nikki. And I can’t wait to see what Ashton does next.

My final thoughts: Ashton has created a terrific story with intriguing characters that’ll leave you eagerly awaiting the next installment.

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This ended up being a pretty decent read even though I went into it a little afraid. I've since seen lots of positive reviews, but at the time I hadn't heard a whole lot about it. And while I did enjoy the book it still had some things that I didn't love.

When I started the book I initially felt

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like I must have missed the first one {even though I knew this was the first...} because it jumps in right away. What the author did was weave what I would normally say was two books into one and I loved it that way. We get what could have been the first book in the series in little snippets as Nikki looks back. So we find out the whole story, we just don't know it all at first. And while it could have ended up being really confusing or even made the story feel choppy it didn't. I felt the transition back was smooth and I never felt at all confused. Total win on the way it was done!

I thought the story was creative and unique. Yes, mythology is popular right now and not a new idea anymore, but this story was completely different from anything else. I thought it was a very awesome idea and the author pulled it off very well.

Nikki was an okay character but for some reason I never really loved her. I didn't dislike her or anything, but she never really wow'ed me. I'm not sure why that was, she didn't 'pop' for me. Nothing really stood out about her. She was selfless, she only thought about others, she's finding her way and she's progressing as a character, and there's not really anything bad to say about her, I just didn't love her.

Cole does a good job of being a bad guy that we can't help but love. I felt the frustration and anger and hatred at him when he was doing bad things and screwing Nikki over, but then he'd do things that seemed sweet and showed he was human {well, not really human} and I couldn't help but feel for him a bit. So I was properly confused in my feelings for him.

The other characters did a good job in their roles. I liked Jack and he was a sweet guy and all that but for some reason I'm not really finding a lot to say about him. Mostly because I don't want to reveal too much...

Overall it was creative style, a unique story and was a fairly quick read. I never felt bored with it, but I never felt a strong compulsion to pick it up and continue reading it either. The characters seemed just a bit lacking though it's hard to pinpoint what it was exactly. I still recommend you give it a try though, lots of people are loving it!

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I really wanted to LOVE Everneath, I did, really. Because for one, I love Greek Mythology. For two, I love retellings. And for three, LOOK AT THAT COVER! IT'S GORGEOUS! But I just... didn't.

That's not to say I didn't enjoy it, because I did. I just didn't LOVE it like I thought I would and I'll

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tell you why. Nikki wasn't the most pleasant of characters to be around. After the feeding she sort of shut herself out from everyone at school. Which didn't really make much sense since wasn't the whole reason why she returned to the Surface was to say goodbye? I understand that she felt the distance between her and her friends, but half the time it didn't seem like she made an effort. Nikki had bi-polar thoughts; one minute she would be optimistic and try to make the best of her six months, then out of nowhere she would get low and gloomy and blah. She was pretty much blah the majority of the time and I mean, if I had six months left, I know I wouldn't be the happiest of people but I would at least not be all... blah.

So Nikki's gone for six months and she suddenly, out of thin air, comes back. No one's really freakin out, her dad didn't attempt to chain her to the house and demand questions and her boyfriend/ex boyfriend Jack? He's totally acting like it's cool she just vanished one day and now she's suddenly back. It was kinda just... unrealistic. To me at least.

I don't know where to put this, so I'll just start randomly talking about Cole. I thought he would be one of those characters I really hate in the beginning then somewhere through out the story he'd redeem himself and I'd fall madly in love with him. No. Not really. If you see my notes on Goodreads the majority of them consists of me calling Cole stupid. Cause he was and he was just everywhere. Like dude, don't you have a life, or someone to snack or something? GTFO! He wasn't a horrible guy, just not my favorite. And really Nikki? Is it that hard to see how Cole feels about you?

Another blogger (I wish I could remember who!) mentioned in their review that once they got to the point where the book tells you why Nikki went through with the feeding that it was hard to buy. And I agree, it was. There were so many other options.

What I did like was how the author described the Everneath. I mean it sounded sort of creepy but cool at the same time. I like the twist in the whole Everneath thing but how it still pretty much stayed on the lines of the Persephone/Hades myth. I liked how it wasn't just a Persephone/Hades myth but a retelling of other myths too. Ones I haven't heard of, so that's always interesting! Also, how cool is it that their high school gets to take a mythology class? Uh, so unfair!

I LOVE Jack. My heart literally broke for him several times. The way he still cared about Nikki, the way he'd do anything for her. His persistence is getting her to open back up to him after not even knowing where she was or why... poor guy, he went through so much and ugh, Nikki sometimes just really frustrated me when it came to Jack! I loved the romance between Jack and Nikki, I wish we got to know more about how they were together. It looked like they had a really sweet story to tell. I also really liked Mary, my heart broke for her too, she deserved better than that!

And finally, I liked how Everneath switched from present day and the past, both with countdowns. That really did build the anticipation!

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Review Courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: This page-turning debut is filled with angst and hard feelings, making the characters innately lovable and intriguing to read.

Opening Sentence: I was picturing his face–a boy with floppy hair and brown eyes–when the Feed ended.

The Review:

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This book takes a mythological underworld and twists it into something new. The beginning, when Nikki “Becks” Beckett is in Everneath coming out of the Feed, made me shudder. It was creepily, skin-crawlingly perfect as a quasi-immortal-underworld, just as Park City was the perfect Surface backdrop. The Feed leaves you empty, feeling like you’re half of a whole. A shell of the person you were on the Surface, because the Everling that Fed on your emotions has taken you away from your body. Your memories, emotions and personality are all sucked away. And the Feeding cripples Forfeits physically too, so they’re put into the Tunnels (insert shudder here) to power Everneath.

But Nikki isn’t crippled by the Feeding; she comes out just like herself–though she wants to reconnect with Cole constantly to make the pain go away. She doesn’t remember anything about her past life, after a century in Everneath (six months on the Surface) all she can recall is a face without a name. He’s the one that kept her going through the Feeding. Don’t worry, this isn’t an amnesia book!

Cole wants Nikki to stay in Everneath. She made it through the Feeding as herself, and he’s been looking for centuries for his perfect match. When an Everling finds their match they can make a run for power–Nikki could be queen. So when she denies him, rejects the chance to live forever Feeding on others, he follows her to the Surface. Because if she doesn’t choose him, she’ll be sucked into the Tunnels, which Ashton describes as similar to–if not more horrifying than–being buried alive.

And then there’s Jack. He broke Nikki’s heart. The reason, along with a number of others; that she consented to being a Forfeit. All Nikki wanted was for the pain to stop, for Cole to suck it out of her. What she didn’t realize was the pain she’d be causing everyone by leaving. When she Returns for six months to say goodbye, Jack is there. Turns out her leaving may have affected him more than anyone else.

Evevrneath is filled to the brim with angst, which I’m a sucker for and helped bump up the rating. After the first chapter, when Nikki is in Everneath, the rest of the book just kind of plodded along as Nikki tries to live in the background of everyone’s lives. She’s trying to make memories to take with her into the Tunnels, and make up for the way she left things last time. There was a lot of repetitiveness with Cole’s character, who didn’t do a lot but show up in Nikki’s room. But that doesn’t make him any less a lovable villain (who knew there was such a thing?) and I can’t wait to get more into his character in book two.

With mythology retellings flooding the shelves, it was nice to read a book that stands out–even if I did still put my classical studies major to the test and figure out the ending, which made me cry for a good five minutes. Honestly, the characters are what carried the story. It was an easy read (even with all the shudders) and very, very enjoyable!

Notable Scene:

No good-byes. No second chances. No disappointing the people I loved. Or at least I’d be in a place where I didn’t care if I disappointed anyone.

But it wasn’t real. And I’d been down that road before. I knew where it led. With my lips against his, I reached a conclusion I’d been trying to avoid: the easy path in this whole mess would be to go with Cole, and I couldn’t let myself make the easy choice. I had to make the right choice.

With all the strength I could muster, I pushed him away from me.

His face was as shocked as mine felt, and his cocky grin had disappeared completely. “Nik… I–”

I held my hand up. “Don’t. That had nothing to do with you.” I forced myself to look him in the eye. I spoke deliberately. “It will never happen again.”

His face grew hard, and he gave me a smile that made him look sinister. “We’ll see about that.” he smile stayed on Cole’s face as he climbed out my window. “One of these days you should sample the emotions floating all around you. If you let me, I can so you how.”

“I’d rather produce my own. I’ll never steal from others.”

“Never say never, Nik. I won’t.” He leaned his head against the window frame. “I’m not giving up on you.” He shoved the window down and disappeared.

My fingers clenched the edge of my desk. His words sounded like a threat.

The Everneath Series:

1. Everneath

FTC Advisory: Harper Teen provided me with a copy of Everneath. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.

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Brodi Ashton's Everneath is a modern day retelling of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice and the first book in a series centered around Persephone and her underworld kingdom.

This young adult novel tells the story of Nikki Beckett, a teenage girl with only six months left until she is forced to return

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to the underworld or Everneath, When the story opens, she is just waking up from a hundred year sleep in which an Everling, Cole, has absorbed her energy by stealing her emotions. Few survive this process and even fewer come through unscathed, but Nikki is special, making it through with some pieces of her personality in tack. While Cole wishes her to join him as an Everling, she chooses to return to the surface, hoping to rejoin her family and reunite with boyfriend, Jack. Although a hundred years has passed for her, only six months have passed for her family and friends. Six months, however, is long enough for everything to have changed. When she returns, her father is suspicious and angry, and her friends are emotionally scarred by her disappearance. Nikki hopes to spend her remaining time healing the hurts she caused by leaving and also in finding a way to avoid returning to the Everneath.

Everneath is a brilliant concept with its basis set firmly in the myths of Persephone and Eurydice. With the Everneath, Brodi Ashton creates a suitably scary and original underworld filled with ghostly sludge and hive-like caverns. Her concept of skimming emotions for energy appears to be an interesting new spin on the ever popular vampire genre. Overall, she successfully takes a popular myth and creates her own original spin on it. The difficulty with Everneath, however, does not lie in the concept or in Ashton’s world creation. Ashton creates a very vivid world but, unfortunately, chooses to populate it with flat characters. Our heroine, Nikki Beckett, has no personality, and the male leads, Cole and Jack, are uncomfortably abusive and domineering. Nikki has no hobbies or interests outside Jack and knitting. She does nothing to forward the story and instead, stops things dead by stalwartly refusing to do anything. She stands by while Jack and Cole battle over her and do all the legwork. These three characters have been seen in various incarnations since Twilight, but here they are at their most uninteresting to date.

Brodi Ashton tries but ultimately fails to make Everneath a truly compelling debut. Nikki Beckett's dullness makes it impossible for this book to succeed; and since there are plenty of young adult novels with interesting heroines, I would recommend readers seek those out rather than looking for signs of life in Everneath.

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Everneath is a very creative spin on the Orpheus and Eurydice/Hades and Persephone myths. It takes a bit to completely catch on to the mythology, but once you do, it sucks you in. Brodi Ashton puts a lot of thought into her mythology, and it really shows. All questions about the Everneath aren’t

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answered, but the mystery is part of the reason that Everneath is impossible to put down. This sounds a little weird, but I completely fell in love with the complexity of the Everliving. They’re such sad beings, but at the same time, they’re cruel and horrible. You can’t help searching for humanity in them.

Nikki is a character that I thought I would dislike: she’s been sucked dry of all her emotions, so I assumed she’d be mopey and boring. Quite the contrary! Nikki is gripped with a sense of desolation, but she’s still determined to make things right with the people she loved before she was taken to the Everneath. She’s actually a fairly selfless person, and although she has some woe-is-me moments, she doesn’t linger on them (and often they’re well-deserved). Cole, the Everliving who took Nikki to the Everneath, is surprisingly not that awful of a guy. Nikki doesn’t resent him too much, and because of this, the reader doesn’t either. He’s supposedly soulless, but as the story goes on, we see him evolve into something more.

What would a story based on a Greek myth be without a romance? Everneath has one, but it’s one of those slow-building types that makes you feel all fuzzy inside. It’s a little bit unexpected, too, which is even better. The love interest is a nice guy who respects Nikki’s vulnerability. Readers who aren’t fans of the “bad boy” stereotype will love him. The romance isn’t just there for romance’s sake, either—it’s significant and pivotal to the story.

Everneath is perfect for fans of paranormal romance who want something fresh. Brodi Ashton really outdoes herself with the mythology, and the story is completely gripping! I enjoyed Everneath quite a bit; it’s not just a pretty cover, it’s a beautiful story, too!

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What do you get when you add underworld myths, manipulative assholes, a superstar athlete and a lot of feelings?

This book.

I'm still unsure on the main character's motivations. Sucked dry of all feelings, she Returns to her old life, for what? Sure, she remembers her boyfriend. But, she doubted him

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enough to go to the Everneath in the first place. So, really, what is she doing?

The world building was pretty awesome. I won't give anything away, you have to take that roller coaster ride yourself.

The story was hard to put down, despite having no idea what was happening or why it was happening for a good portion of the book.

The book ended on such a cliffhanger. I don't think I can handle it. There are very few things that I encounter that give me such a raw ache to find out what happens.

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Excuse me while I gush because I absolutely loved this book! Despite knowing my 18 month old likes to wake up early I stayed up late reading because I just had to finish this book. I will admit it took me a bit to get into it and I actually put it aside to read something else but once it picked up

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and I could not put it down. What initially caught my eye was that the idea of returning to the surface for 6 months before having to return to the Everneath made me think it was going to incorporate the mythology of Hades and Persephone. What was nice was it did blend in aspects of Hades and Persephone as well as Orpheus and Eurydice in a seamless manner that made the story intriguing with enough originality to keep this book from being just a modern day retelling of the myths.

Jack is by far my favorite character in the book. I adored him for his sweetness, loyalty and I loved that he was made so much more realistic with his freaking out at certain revelations instead of blindly accepting them as often happens in these types of books. I sympathized with Nikki because I can only imagine how horrible it would be to lose your mother and then to have your father accept the killer getting off on a technicality basically for political reasons. So even though Jack is so obviously in love with her I can understand why she was an easy mark for Cole to instill doubts about the relationship. Cole was a complicated character who at first just seems evil for duping innocent girls into being stuck in the Everneath but as the story goes on we see more and more complex layers to him.

Another reason why I enjoyed this story is although the synopsis makes it sound like there is a love triangle this isn't the typical YA, paranormal love triangle story. While Cole may have feelings for Nikki she is unwavering in her love for Jack and he is obviously still in love with her. That just makes their situation that much more tragic and you are rooting for them to find a way to be together.

If I had to choose a downside of the book I could only say is the fact that it will leave you dying for the next book.

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When I saw the summary for Everneath a few months ago, I thought it was another retelling of the Hades and Persephone myth (it’s not) and that it involved a love triangle (it doesn’t). Instead, Everneath mixes Egyption mythology with a fresh take on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, a unique

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combination that I have not seen in YA paranormal books.

When we meet Nikki Beckett, she has just returned from Everneath, a realm for immortal beings called Everlings, but everyone assumes that she was a drug addict and runaway since she disappeared for six months without a trace. The story is told in flashbacks, so in addition to reading about what’s going on in the present, we also find out the circumstances that led to her being in Everneath in the first place. While the story unfolds slowly, it kept me on the edge of my seat waiting to find out exactly how Nikki ended up in her situation.

Nikki is an interesting character. Prior to going to Everneath, she was very insecure in her relationship with her boyfriend, the popular and handsome starting quarterback, Jack. While it saddened me to read about this girl who thought she was not good enough for a boy, her feelings of insecurity are very important to the book’s plot. I didn’t love Nikki but I didn’t hate her either. She made some poor decisions that led to horrible consequences and now she has a hard time living with these consequences.

As for the boys, I loved Jack! He is a great example of love, forgiveness and sacrifice. Jack may just find himself on my list of favorite book boys for 2012. I’m probably supposed to hate Cole, he is sort of the villain in the story, but I’m more intrigued by him than anything else. Cole is an Everling, an immortal being who lives off the life energy of humans. Even though Cole is pretty much a parasite, I don’t hold him responsible for Nikki’s situation. She gets all the blame for that. I’m really hoping to learn more about Cole and the political situation in Everneath in the sequel. There are mentions of an evil, life sucking, homicidal queen of Everneath and who can resist learning more about her!

With its unique mythology and an ending that left me dying for more, I cannot wait to read the second book in this series. Everneath is a wonderful debut novel by Brodi Ashton and I am looking forward to more from her. I highly recommend this book, especially to readers who love all things mythology (like myself).

Content: Kissing, some profanity and underage drinking

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This cover is gorgeous!!! It's one of my favorites out there, even prettier in person. And, it 100% fits the story.

Anywho, I had a very, VERY hard time getting into this. The beginning was confusing and I HATED how the time kept changing from last year to current time.

Spoilers ahead:

I hate how

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Nikki just gave everything over to Cole because she saw a girl in Jack's bedroom. I know as a teenager your boytoy is like your whole world, but seriously???? I know she was upset about her Mother and the trial, but that really seemed to take a back-seat to Jack. Obsessed much?
I also hate how she didn't really know exactly what she was getting herself into by going with Cole to Everneath.
He must have been smokin' hot sexy :)

Don't get me wrong I liked the mythology aspect of the story, but it sort of felt out-in-left-field to me??? It was kind of a neat twist, I'm sort of 50-50 on it.
I also wonder the importance on Jack's brother Will? Is he going to be a key character in the next book? If not, then why is he even in here?

The end sucked. It was obvious. I had a feeling about Jack being the anchor early on and midway through had a thought that he would sacrifice himself. Even if I didn't, Merideth kind of gave it away with her little secret. I was hoping it would go totally away from that, like the author was trying to lead us that way and we would get a suprise ending.... but no such luck.

I really hope that in the next book Nikki finds a way to get Jack back that doesn't envolve her having to owe anything to Cole.

3 stars

Bottomline: Hard to get into, somewhat interesting story, annoying characters and a lot of convenient moments.

100% clean

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There is so many words I could use to describe this book, I mean I could probably go on for days just using one word descriptions, but I'm not going to do that, no I'm only going to use five words.

Splendid...Amazing... Heart Wrenching... Mesmerizing!

Really even these words aren't enough to describe

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this incredible book to you. Everneath is one of those books you just can't turn the pages fast enough to read. It's one that you can't put down either and you end up taking it everywhere with you.

Nikkie Beckett (Becks) is the main female character in this book, she's so devastated by her life and so many difference events that have happened, that she ends up turning to someone she knows that can take the pain away for her. I mean come on, we all would love to be able to do that sometimes, right? So we really can't fault her for that. The only thing is, Cole taking her pain away could cost her everything! Including all the people who she loves and loves her back. Including Jack!

Jack is the guy who loves Becks so much that he just can't let her go, no matter how hard it is on him he just can't seem to move on, even after she is gone. Their love is so strong it gets both of them through so much but hurts them both at the same time.

Now we must talk about Cole, Cole is a Everling. For those of you that don't know what those are, well I'll tell you. They live in the Everneath and to survive here on the surface they must feed off of other peoples emotions. Its hard to explain really, but it's like he steals their emotions!

I fell in love with these characters, even Cole on a few occasions, yes I said it! He's sweet sometimes lol. I know it sounds cliche, but when Becks cried in this book, I did too. That's how emotionally charged this book really is.

Greek Mythology plays a huge part in this book as well and if you enjoy that, you will love this book.

Will Becks be able to find a way to cheat the system and stay with Jack or will she be sucked back down and into the Tunnels or will she choose Cole? What do you think she should do? Hmm, don't look at me that way, I'm not going to tell you. You need to read it and find out! hehe

I will warn you I cried like a baby at the end of this book. I was also yelling at it when there was no more pages to turn. I need more books like this, where I'm dying for more pages and more words to read.

One more thing I must say before I give my rating. I loved how the author showed us glimpses into Nikki's Past in this story. I loved how we got to see her grow as a character as well. LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!

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Jumping into Everneath was SO exciting, because after reading Sweet Venom I was really interested in more mythological reads. I have never heard of the Persephone story, but I quickly figured out that's what Brodi Ashton was retelling. Let me tell you this book was just beautiful! I absolutely

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LOVED it.

Nikki is so unique and she really failed to believe in herself after a continuous string of bad choices...I think something the majority of us can relate to. She was incredibly realistic and this really helped make the mythology modern! In fact, I really enjoyed every character in the book. Each had a quality that you fell in love with, even though it sometimes seemed wrong.

As for Cole and Jack...Oh. My. Goodness. Seriously. I'm not sure I can even put full sentences together for these two. I definitely felt for Nikki...talk about a tug-o-war! I reeeeally loved them both and Nikki's connection to each pulled my heart strings in every which way.

I like that Everneath was written in alternative time frames, before and after the Feed. This made it impossible for me to pick a side, because you're getting both ends of the story at once. Definitely an interesting and unique way to write, but it still flowed and was very enjoyable.

Ashton did a kick-butt job with creating the Everneath world and even though it seems like a scary place, you kind of want to take a stroll there just to see what's shakin'. I couldn't get enough and I soaked up every word of this book. Everneath has made its way to my favorites list. The crazy-shocker ending tore my heart out, and I CANNOT wait to read more!

Review based on ARC

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To categorise Everneath as just another paranormal romance would be doing this book an incredible misjustice – it is so unlike all other paranormal romance YA novels I have read.

Everneath is the story of Nikki. After suffering the tragic loss of her mother, and complications in her love life, Nik

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turns to Cole. Cole as it turns out is an Everliving. The Everlivings live in the underworld and for all purposes are immortals living off the emotions of humans. Nik is bought down there with Cole for 100 years (which is only a few months on the surface).

She returns to try and make sense of her life, and tries to move on after regretting ever trusting Cole. Only to find out that she has limited time back on the surface. 6 months. Before she’ll be sucked down to a dark place called the Tunnels where she will be banished forever. Unless she can do something about it.

With the help of her boyfriend Jack, Nikki decides she is going to fight to remain on the surface to be with Jack.

I really was swept up with this story – initially I found it a little tricky since the book jumps from before The Feed to now, but really once I started paying attention to where we were the story just flowed.

I really love the depth of the characters also. I love that we see Nikki back on the surface completely drained of her emotions to start with, but we see her over the 6 months grow back into the girl she was before The Feed.

Jack was just gorgeous. I adored his devotion to Nikki, especially his tenacity drive to never give Nikki up. So sweet!

Cole… as much as he is pitted as the villain, he was kind of hot. Maybe I am the only one who thinks this? But I thought he was playing the role of the bad boy. Immortal bad boy perhaps, but he really had the one liners happening throughout the book. I loved him and hated him at the same time.

I can’t say too much because of a major spoiler alert. But I loved this book so much. I am pre-ordering myself a copy when it’s released to keep on my book shelf. The fact that this is the first book in a series is extremely exciting to me, given the MAJOR cliffhanger this book left me on!

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A lovely retelling of the Persephone myth, author Brodi Ashton puts her own modern spin on the story of the young, innocent goddess who becomes Queen of the Underworld. In Ashton’s re-imagined myth, the Underworld is known as the Everneath – home of the immortal Everliving – which thrives on

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human emotional energy. After experiencing an extreme amount of heartbreak in a short span of time, seventeen-year-old Nikki Beckett turns to the one person who promises to take all her pain away – Cole, an Everliving. Little does she know much much her decision, made in the heat of an emotional moment, will cost her.


After surviving a century of the “Feed” in the Everneath, and for the most part mentally intact, Nikki refuses Cole’s offer to remain with him and become an Everliving. She is repulsed by the idea of subjecting someone else to the Feed ,preying upon their emotions and destroying who they are piece by piece. Instead, she chooses to return home to her family and to Jack – the boy whose face kept her from losing herself all those years. However, her return is not permanent. The shades of Everneath have marked Nikki as their own, and her return to the Surface will only last six months before the shades claim her forever. Coming to grips with her inescapable fate, Nikki resolves to make the most of her time and to mend ties with her friends and family. If she’s leaving, she’s determined to do it on her own terms.


Nikki is such a broken character at the beginning of this book. Deprived of deeper emotions, alienated from her friends and family, her hardships and string of damaged relationships is ultimately her fault for choosing the Everneath over working through her issues. However, I couldn’t help but be completely sympathetic. How could she have known at sixteen that the consequences would be so far-reaching? She couldn’t have. Yet she takes complete responsibility for her actions without complaint and I found that admirable. Irrevocably changed by her experiences in the Everneath, Nikki is older, wiser, humble, more sensitive to the feelings of others and better understands the permanence of a rash decision. She knows she must leave her loved ones again, that her fate is unchangeable, but she’s determined to give her friends and family the space, the time and the healing they need to forgive her initial abandonment. Most importantly she hopes to give them a little more closure this time – to let them know how much she loves them – before her time on the surface is up.


The relationship between Jack & Nikki is really the crux of this novel. Their romance is built on years of close friendship and shared experiences, and finally took a romantic turn several months before Nikki is taken to Everneath. It’s not hard to see why Nikki fell for Jack. Easy-going, friendly, adorably flirtatious, even-minded and devastatingly handsome (so says Nikki), he is an optimistic and charismatic guy who people are drawn to. Their relationship is wonderfully developed and Ashton has done an excellent job of making their romance an organic progression from their already solid friendship to a passionate, genuine love. Nikki & Jack have such a wonderful contentment and familiarity with each other that’s refreshing to read. One of the things I loved most about Everneath was that Ashton switched between the past and the present, showing us Jack & Nikki as they are now, but also what they were like together before the Everneath. Between the heartache of the present and the romance of the past, Ashton paints the reader a lovely and heartbreaking picture of Jack & Nikki’s love, just how much they’ve lost… and how much they could stand to lose again.


Determined to keep them apart for reasons of his own is Cole. Characters who constantly live in the moral gray, or who even seem to have an absence of morality fascinate me. Cole fascinates me. An immortal, Cole does what he does to survive, completely oblivious or perhaps consciously indifferent to the human lives he rips apart in the process. After meeting Nikki several months before he steals her away he becomes fixated on her, and when he learns that she’s survived the Feed (what a winner, right?) he becomes obsessed with making her his for all eternity. Cole is such a wonderful enigma, his motivations and endgame a bit of a mystery. At times he seems almost likeable and incredibly human, and yet at others, dangerous and predatory. Over his character looms the constant, ever-burning question: does he genuinely care for Nikki? Can he really, truly love? Or for him, is it about control, about winning?


Though Everneath is an extremely well done retelling of Persephone myth and though I love the main characters and their relationships, sadly I didn’t find the story itself to be anything mind-blowing or incredibly original. In particular, several of the main plot points are almost completely identical to another book I’ve read this year, Lisa Mangum’s The Hourglass Door, which is also a book about immortal beings who feed on the emotional energy of humans. It’s uncanny how similar they are. Granted, the larger story of both books are completely different, but I just couldn’t get over the similarities enough to fall completely head over heels with Everneath.


Overall, Everneath is an enjoyable retelling of a beloved myth and a heartwarming, heartbreaking tale of forgiveness and the lengths to which one will go for love.

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Nikki Beckett was brought into the underworld, but unlike most people who venture there she made her way back to earth, but doesn't have long to make a decision about whether or not she's going to go back to the underworld and become queen or if she's going to choose the tunnels, which would be a

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life of misery and pain.

I heard fabulous things about this book, and was estatic to recieve an ARC of it to read and review, but It didn't live up to the expectation for me. I took me forever to get through and It didn't captivate me the way I wanted I had hoped it would.

I couldn't stand the main character Nikki she drove me nuts, she had a limited time to come home and say a final goodbye and instead of spending it with her father and younger brother she spent her time chasing after the boyfriend she left behind and spending time with her friends, which really fustrated me. I guess thats the overall feeling the book gave me was fustration. I wanted to love the story, the characters, the plot, but i didn't love them, which left me feeling extremely fustrated.

I did however love Jack who was Nikki's boyfriend she left behind, I found him to be swoon-worthy, and a bit of a hunk. He was so supportive, and understanding, and I really grew fond of him by the end of the story. Jack was probably one of the only things that kept me reading, because I was invested in his character.

Paranormal books are always a huge hit or miss with me though, so if you're truly a fan of YA paranormal you should give this book a try, because the majority of reviews are all postive. I do think the book deserves a chance, it wasn't a bad book, just not a book for me.

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The moment I laid my eyes on the cover of Everneath, sometime during the last quarter of 2011, I knew that I HAD to read this book! Without even bothering to read the synopsis, I added it to my TBR pile. It was great to know that the book would come out in January and I highlighted January, 24 on

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my calendar.
Then finally D- day arrived and it took me barely 5 days to finish the book, predominantly because it was so gripping! I found it hard to put the book down and spent hours reading it at night. Everneath is one of those books that makes you want to keep turning the pages at a super fast speed.
Based on mythology, Everneath is the story of Nikki and how she is pulled into a whole new world of the Everneath by Cole. 6 months in the Everneath equals 1 century on the Surface. Technically, Nikki and Cole spend one century with each other and it is but obvious that this leads to feelings of attraction between the two. Cole is crazy about Nik and wants her to be his Queen in Everneath. Nikki, however, is already in love with quarterback, Jack and they are a couple, until Nikki is suddenly drawn to Cole's ability to wipe away all pain and he takes her to the Everneath, just to escape a betrayal from Jack, which actually never happened! One simple factor keeps Nikki alive in the Everneath and that is our hero, Jack. On her insistence to return to the Surface just so she can prepare herself for a proper, well versed goodbye to near and dear ones, Cole joins her. But then she faces the turmoil of being sucked into the Tunnels after a certain amount of time or going ahead with Cole to become Queen of Everneath.
Well, from here on, you just have to read the book by yourself to know what happens! I strictly recommend Everneath. Author Brodi Ashton has done an excellent job with practically everything. The facts are straight, the characters extremely intriguing. The plot keeps the reader awake and makes you want to know more.
Keeping aside the mythological basis of the book, I thought that the normal, regular life described it in was so well written. Nik's dad is contesting the Town elections for the post of Mayor. Her brother, Tommy is such an adorable little boy. Her best friend, Jules is confused by the turn of events, but yet manages to be the best friend that we all need. Even the cheer leader, Lacey, is so normal. Nikki also wroks at this soup Kitchen, just to restore life back to normal, which is such a well put down. I feel that the Contemporary aspect of the book does complete justice to real life and has been explained in a brilliant manner! One other character that completely blew me off was that of Meredith, girlfriend of one of the guys who plays in Cole's band, Dead Elvises, who could not survive Everneath and return to the surface as an old, crippled lady, who plays a significant role in making Nik and Jack understand so much about everything and so does Meredith's (or Mary's) mom. One other guy who caught my attention was the Shop- n- Go guy- the owner of the store from where Everneath is the closest- Ezra, whose not only name, but personality is also quite cool.
Coming to the mythological aspect of it, the book revolves around the Daughter of Persophone and some really nice Greek tales of the Otherworld, Underworld or Afterworld and it's Kings and Queens and some really astonishing facts that end up relating to Nikki more than anything else.
As for the two guys, I found it really hard to make up my mind as to whether I am Team Cole or Team Jack. I am sure this is going to be a major issue among readers.
Jack and Nikki share such a wonderful relationship. Their love is so evident from their actions and faces even, that it makes you want to want them to be together forever! I think I am Team Jack after all. I thought he was superb and an extremely loving guy. It is hard to find a guy who is willing to die for you after you suddenly left him without any notice! Cole, on the other hand, is the hot guy and even his attitude towards Nik is so clean, full of care, that it is hard to say no to him! I guess he too has feeling, but let's just keep that aside for now, Jack is THE guy for me, right now at least!

I can hardly wait for the sequel to come out! Until then, grab your copy of Everneath ASAP and start reading NOW!

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Wow. This book is AMAZING! I just finished reading it, and I'm still in shock about the ending! I cried like a baby, I'm not going to lie. Don't worry, I won't spoil it for you, though.

Nikki comes back to the Surface, specifically Park City, UT, to tell her family and friends goodbye, and to see

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Jack one last time. Everyone thought that she ran off in some drug-induced haze six month prior and is just now crawling back home. The story is told from Nikki's POV, and it is written almost like a diary.

Her father, the Mayor of Park City, is trying to repair his relationship with Nikki while he fixes his image, which was tarnished when she ran away. They go through many rough spots, but Nikki is determined to make the most of her time, and she is very careful to treat her father and brother lovingly.

I'm not going to say much more about the plot itself, because the way the novel unfolds means that if I go into any more detail, I could be giving spoilers without meaning to. I love the way the book is written, though. The chapters operate almost like a journal entry. Each chapter tells you whether you're in a memory or present-day along with how many days Nikki has left on the surface. Throughout the novel, instead of simply telling the various things that happened to Nikki, Ashton puts the reader directly into Nikki's memories so we can experience first hand everything that led to her following Cole into the Everneath. I really loved this approach. It was different, and it kept me much more involved in the story. It was almost like reading two separate stories at once, which was awesome.

The characters were all well-developed, other than Jules, Nikki's best friend, and Tommy, Nikki's little brother. I would have liked to have seen more of Jules and gotten to know her better. Nikki was easy to relate to, and it was very easy to slip into her story and feel what she was feeling. I loved Jack. He is a fantastic character. His love and support for Nikki are breathtaking. Nikki's father is a typical politician, but with a heart. He wants to do what's best for Nikki, but he doesn't know how. Tommy is endearing, but I didn't get to know him very well in this novel. Cole, the bad guy, is anything but typical, and I can't decide if I love or hate him. Sometimes he's so sweet that I want Nikki to be with him, but then I see the motives behind his actions, and I'm not sure if I like him or not. I'm not always sure his motives are clear to the reader, since the book is written from Nikki's POV. I feel like we are missing what's really going on in his head. That adds to the mystery, though.

The pacing of the story is spot on, and it keeps you hooked from the first page. This is one of the few books I've read in which I can't figure out what's going to happen next. Everything surprised me, and I could not stop reading because I had to know what was going on. I don't think this book could have been pried from my hands until I finished it.

The mythology in the story is interesting. Ashton plays on Greek mythology, specifically the stories of Persephone and Hades and Orpheus and Eurydice. The myths are woven into the story well and add to it nicely. There is also a touch of Egyptian mythology thrown in.

I would recommend this book to anyone 13+ because the underage characters don't partake in any illegal or "immoral" activities during the story itself. There are hints that Jack used to be a bit of a ladies' man, but there is nothing descriptive in those hints.

Everneath is one of those stories that grabs onto you and won't let you go until it's finished. It's a heartbreaking tale of love, loss, and redemption. I can't wait until the sequel.

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Hurt and bereft, the Everneath was the solution Nikki Beckett was looking for when she disappeared from view six months ago. Never once did she imagine returning to her old life ever again. Yet as her time within the Everneath came to a close, a vision of the boy she'd once loved sprung into her

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mind and gave her the strength to make the decision to return to the surface - a decision that did not sit well with Cole, the immortal who'd drawn her to the Underworld in the first place.

Nikki is determined to make the most of the six months she has left before the Tunnels come to claim her. She tells herself that this time she'll do things right and make sure she doesn't leave behind any loose ends when the time comes. Her transition as one of the living isn't easy for her. Her emotions are numb and part of her yearns to return to the depths of the Everneath once more.

Intent on making the most of things, she heads back to school, hoping she'll get the chance to see her beloved one last time. Getting back into the swing of things, she opens herself up to new possibilities as well as the feelings Jack begins to evoke in her - feelings she thought were dead for good.

The spark between her and Jack is soon rekindled, much to Cole's chagrin. He wants to take her back with him and will stop at nothing until he achieves his goal. Devising ways in which to keep her tied to him, he does his best to thwart her every plan.

As time continues to dwindle, Nikki tries not to lose control. She's adjusted to the world around her, even if some things are no longer what they used to be. Baring her heart to the one she loves, they plot together in hopes of finding a way to cheat the system so that she'll never have to return to the Everneath. That, unfortunately, is easier said than done.

I absolutely loved this book. I'd been wanting to read this book for awhile now ever since I came across it's cover on a website I'm a part of. I must say the story doesn't disappoint. The pace is fast and consistent and the story keeps a person glued to it's pages. I found the references to Persephone and the Underworld delightful in addition to tie-in of the mythology surrounding Eurydice, as well. Definitely looking forward to more of Brodi's work.

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Everneath by Brodi Ashton (Everneath #1)
Pages: 384
Release Date: January 24th, 2012
Date Read: 2012, January 10th-12th
Received: ARC from NetGalley
Rating: 5/5 stars
Recommended to: 14+

SUMMARY -
Nikki Beckett has just been released from the Feed - from Cole. She has spent a century in the Everneath,

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allowing Cole to Feed off her energy, her emotions, for his own gain and the gain of the Everneath. She'd wanted him to, begged him to. Her hurt had been too great.
But now that she's back in her own world, her own time, she does not like her two choices - either return with Cole and possibly become Queen of the Everlings or go to the Tunnels and become a battery for the Everneath. She would rather sacrifice herself to the Tunnels than be fed off of forever, but as she grows stronger, she wonders if she can escape her fate?
Whether she can or not, she's determined to leave right - not like last time, when she'd just fought with her father and her boyfriend had broken her heart. But here and now, her heart seems to be drawn yet again to that same boy. Can she do the right thing with her friends and family - and possibly evade the Tunnels? Time is running out.

MY THOUGHTS -
Tomorrow is the release date of Everneath. Early in the morning, I will hurriedly get dressed, grab my keys and my purse, drive to the nearest Barnes and Noble, and purchase this book. I will probably scream happily and do a little joyful jig and stare longingly at the cover and thumb through the pages, my heart thumping excitedly, like I've received a surprising and long-awaited Christmas present.

This is not an exaggeration. I am 95% certain that's exactly how it will happen. The remaining 5% leaves room for variation in how much and/or what kind of screaming, jigging, and thumbing I will do. The rest is set in stone.

Wanna know why?
I'm madly in love with this book. Every. Last. Letter. Down to the dotted I's and crossed T's. Down to every apostrophe and period and exclamation point. Down to the very paper it was printed on - no! Even better - the press that made it!! The fingers that typed that first draft of a manuscript and every draft thereafter should be covered with diamond rings and kissed by all who pass.

I. AM. AMAZED.
(Understatement.)

CHARACTER NOTES -
These characters all stand out as likable - whether because they're good good guys or good bad guys. Or good in-between guys you can't decide about yet. But even more than being good characters - they're memorable, every single one.

Nikki is a great MC. Her voice reflects her character, on the quieter side, a girl who loves deeply, someone who never wishes to hurt others but is hurt easily by others. She's not weak, just sensitive. She's sweet and smart, but she also runs from pain, doesn't like confrontation and will do all she can to avoid it. These things add up to make Nikki who she is - one of those perfectly imperfect characters who you respect from the start, even if they have some growing to do.

Cole and his buddies are mysteries, very fascinating ones, totally puzzling, in a good way. Cole is kind of like an antagonist, even though he's not exactly the "bad guy". I'm so intrigued, but still, he doesn't even compare....to....

*breath hitches in throat - heart stops*

Jack Caputo. Jack Caputo.
Jack. Caputo.

Yes, you heard me.

J. A. C. K. C. A. P. U. T. O.

*Falls into chair with dramatic sigh, hand on forehead, fist at the chest*
*Knees go week and whole form begins to crumple*
*Heart begins to thump exceedingly loud and fast*
*Mouth opens in pure awe*
*Giggles like a schoolgirl at the very sight of his name*

Take your pick. Any will apply, all with apply. There are others, too.

I loved the way he was content just to be with Nikki. How honest he was. How he responded to Nikki's situation. How everything he did was so...Jack Caputo.

I could go on.
Excuse me for a moment while I give a few fangirly screams.

STORY NOTES -
I never can stay away from retellings. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't. They draw me. This story is kind of a mix between a retelling and a twist...of the story of Hades and Persephone, which makes it even more amazing because mythology is something else I find extremely fascinating and hard to stay away from.

Ashton's version does not disappoint, in any way. I feel like, after an accomplishment as great as Everneath she could write anything. I hope she does. I hope she writes and writes and writes - because this story is basically my one true love, my happily ever after.

Every moment had me riveted. I loved how slowly everything about Nikki's past was revealed, which gave me time to contemplate everything. It also built the characters more smoothly than if the flashbacks hadn't been there.

The romance held something more than your typical YA romance. Not only was it sweet and innocent, not only did it give me butterflies and heart flutters, but it had already happened! I won't say any more...I honestly can't describe it - you must experience it.

The pace of this book is definitely fast, but while I read it I felt like I was experiencing everything in a time frame of the six months Nikki had. But it still went by so fast...I don't know how to explain it. Just know that I was never once bored or wishing more would happen. This book seriously has allllll the good stuff!!

SUMMING IT UP -
Everneath will evermore be one of my ever-favorites. Please hurry, Brodi and Balzer + Bray!! I'm just...speechless. Still. And so, so please. Buy. This. Book.

For the Parents -
Some kissing, passionate but very sweet. Jack's past includes some sleeping around, but he wishes he could change that. Nikki is once afraid that Jack will pressure her to sleep with him but he says he won't, and doesn't. He is very respectful of her wishes. Some underage teens spend time at clubs, but nothing inappropriate happens. Some very brief, mild language. Recommended 14+

*This ARC copy was provided by NetGalley (thanks a million!!) in return for an honest review. I was in no way compensated; all thoughts and feelings expressed are my own.*

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Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy

I love the Greek myth about Hades and Persephone. It’s romantic and dangerous which makes it perfect fodder for the paranormal YA genre. Last year, there were at least three contemporary retellings: Meg Cabot’s ABANDON, Amiee Carter’s THE GODDESS

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TEST, and my favorite, Gwen Hayes’ FALLING UNDER. 2012 kicks off with a new and welcome version from debut author Brodi Ashton. EVERNEATH borrows just enough from the source material to please the purist in me while injecting the story with fresh and exciting new mythology.

If you are unfamiliar with the Persephone myth, it’s about a girl who is abducted by Hades and forced to be his queen for half of every year in the underworld. EVERNEATH begins with Nikki returning to the Surface after vanishing months before. The side effects of her stay in Everneath are very apparent, both physically and emotionally. Nikki wasn’t a queen, she was a meal. Time passes differently in Everneath, so her energy was fed on for a century. All her emotions, her memories are gone. Except for Jack. The boyfriend whose betrayal allowed the immortal Cole to seduce her to Everneath. The narrative jumps effectively from her time before Everneath chronicling how Nikki and Jack fell in love and how Cole pursued and ultimately stole her life, and Nikki’s painful reacclimation to life and attempted reconciliation with Jack when she returns. Lots of heartbreak, but it’s the good kind.

I did feel that there was an imbalance when it came to the secondary characters in EVERNEATH. When Nikki returns to the Surface, she is completely consumed with Jack. Very little attention is given to her father and little brother despite how clearly her absence has devastated them in the wake of her mother’s death and the trial for the man who killed her. I think it would have worked better if Nikki hadn’t had a family or not one that cared about her, than to have this broken family be largely swept to the sidelines. It just felt wrong. Likewise Jack’s PTSD suffering older brother was a mess after fighting in Afghanistan, but they never really address it or even talk about him. I can’t help wondering why these characters, with serious problems, were even introduced at all. Granted this is a trilogy, so some of my objections will likely be addressed in subsequent books, but to not address them at all in this book struck me as a serious oversight.

Overall, EVERNEATH reintroduced me to a myth I love with beautiful writing and skilled narration. The romance is both poignant and tragic. I’m thrilled this is the first book in a planned trilogy. There are zero details about the sequels right now, but I have some ideas of what may happen next. Hopefully the secondary characters will get some much needed attention, but with a central love story this strong and a twist on the mythology this fascinating, I may not mind.

Sexual Content:
Kissing. References to sex

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Everneath is a breathtaking, heartbreaking read with a fresh take on mythology. At first, Nikki's narration jumps around as her memories return to her and she adjusts to life back on Earth. Through this technique, Ashton gives us insight into Nikki's life before the Feed and how she came to the

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decision to let Cole feed off her.

I admire Nikki's strength of mind and determination to learn how to live again before Everneath claims her once more, rather than betraying her morals to stay with Cole as his queen--and that's something, considering the powerful attraction between him. She is the kind of girl who takes action rather than waiting for the inevitable, the kind of girl who'll draw me into a novel with her brilliant personality. She also has great taste in guys. Jack is the kind of guy you can bring home to introduce to your parents. And if you must have an affair with a bad boy, Cole is a great choice with his immortal hotness.

Nikki sees Cole as a bad guy, a demon that tricked her into making her go to him in the first place. He is. At the same time, you could say that Nikki is his demon--a mortal who has caused him to feel things he hasn't before, things he shouldn't feel. He's the bad guy, but I have a feeling that there's a great evil lurking in the shadows somewhere. (And I really hope there is, because Cole is too cool--hot, amazing--to suffer defeat.)

From Persephone to Egyptian hieroglyphics to Orpheus, classic tales blend together to form the original source: the Everneath. I love how Ashton can write a scene from daily life, such as Nikki working on a paper, and at the same time, tell us how some Greek tales were derived from the Everneath. Other favorite scenes include Nikki's first meeting with Cole, and Jack's story of his initial attempt to 'introduce' himself to Nikki when they were kids.

Brodi Ashton captured my heart with her debut novel, and she broke it to pieces with its ending. Through friends, an English teacher, Jack and Cole, Nikki draws connections between Greek tales and the Everneath in an attempt to free herself and reclaim her old life. In the process, Nikki's heart has been broken, healed, and torn over Jack. While mine has been drawn towards Cole from the beginning, I have grown fond of Jack. I will definitely be waiting for book two.

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