Recommendation: Everneath

Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Release: January 24, 2012

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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..

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So we all know the story of Hades and Persephone (or at least, the basics). Everneath by Brodi Ashton takes it to a NEW. LEVEL. I had heard so many good things from reviewers that I had to read for myself and I absolutely loved it.

Everneath is a retelling of Hades and Persephone in modern day. In an attempt to free herself from all the pain, Nikki Beckett rashly agrees to leave with this guy, Cole. He takes her to Everneath with the promise that she'd no longer feel pain. Nikki believes him, and yet, during the 100 years spent in Everneath she never forgot the people she left behind: her boyfriend, her father, her brother. So she decides to return home, knowing she'd only has 6 months to decide her fate: return to Everneath with Cole and become his Queen, or refuse and be exposed to something called "the tunnels". In a way, it's a version of Hell. The story opens up with Nikki returning home, where she's been missing for six months, and what follows is a heart wrenching story that I highly recommend.

I know that I am not doing a spectacular job of explaining what Everneath is about, but at least I tried. It's actually a complicated book, going between past and present and weaving in themes of love, obligation, redemption, and family. Perhaps the change between past and present puts off some people, but I liked peeling back the layers and slowly getting to see the build up to Nikki's decision to leave. Not only that, reading about the past helped develop the relationship between Nikki and her boyfriend, Jack. It made me care about them even more...

And Cole. Oh Cole. He's quite possibly my favorite character in Everneath. I found myself grinning at his  snarky comments, despite the fact that I was rooting for Nikki and Jack the whole time. And what is interesting is that this isn't your usual love triangle. It's a 'which boy do I love the most' it's more 'how can I be with the RIGHT boy'. The world building was the main thing that fell flat. I think the world and rules of Everneath could have been explained and/or further developed BUT I have a feeling that this will happen in the sequel, Everbound. And can we talk about that ending? It made me tear up! I didn't want it to happen, but really, it was the ONLY way for the book to end. I think.

All in all, Everneath is a book that I highly, highly recommend.

RATING: 4.5 SLICES