Review: Everneath

Everneath, by Brodi Ashton. The GoodReads summary:

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath. Now she's returned--to her old life, her family, her boyfriend--before she's 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 precious months forgetting the Everneath and trying to reconnect with her boyfriend, Jack, the person most devastated by her disappearance--and the one person she loves more than anything. But there's just one problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who enticed her to the Everneath in the first place, has followed Nikki home. Cole wants to take over the throne in the underworld and is convinced Nikki is the key to making it happen. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back, this time as his queen.

As Nikki's time on the Surface draws to a close and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she is 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 queen.

I’m not necessarily the biggest fan of YA paranormal, but I thought “Everneath” was actually pretty decent. It’s a take on the Greek myth of Persephone, and while I had a few issues with it, I generally enjoyed it.

The thing I thought this book did best was alternating between the past and present. Sometimes that structure doesn’t work in books, as it can get confusing if not done right, but I thought Brodi Ashton did a good job at it. It heightened the tension in the story quite nicely and gave me just enough information at a time to make me want to keep reading.

Nikki was a likeable enough main character. I appreciated how she came back from the Everneath empty and broken but slowly found her footing again. But . . . she didn’t have quite enough depth for me. Like, she goes to the Everneath because she’s in so much emotional pain, but when she comes back, she doesn’t seem to really ever deal with those issues. She does make the decision not to take the easy way out again, but I wanted more from her than that. Like an actual conversation with her father, maybe. Or with her brother. Or with her former best friend. Or with anyone besides Jack and Cole.

I enjoyed Nikki and Jake’s relationship. I thought it had a really good balance of uncertainty and gratification. I especially liked that since they dated before the story starts, they have a history together, so the author could explore other aspects of their relationship rather than the usual YA “meet and fall in love.” Although, I did think Jake was a *little* on the obsessive side regarding Nikki. Not in an abusive way, but in a “you’re 17, why are you so convinced she’s the only person you’ll ever love” kind of way. I appreciated, however, that although the story skated perilously close to having a love triangle, it never actually crossed that line.

Still, I did find the story rather predictable, and I saw the ending coming a mile away. I also got a bit confused and frustrated towards the end because *spoiler* I couldn’t figure out why Nikki and Jake got so fixated on killing Cole. I mean, Nikki already knows that Cole has nothing to do with the tunnels coming for her, so I didn’t understand why they decided that would solve all their problems. *end spoiler*

Overall, there were things I liked and things I didn’t, but generally I enjoyed it. I’m not quite sold on reading the sequel, but never say never, I guess.

Rating: 3.5 / 5