Author: Brodi Ashton
Format Acquired: Hardcover
Publication Date: January 22, 2013
Publishing House: Balzer + Bray
ISBN: 9780062071163
Source of Copy: Purchased from Fully Booked
Summary:
Nikki Beckett could only watch as her boyfriend, Jack, sacrificed himself to save her, taking her place in the Tunnels of the Everneath for eternity - a debt that should've been hers. Now she is living a borrowed life, and she doesn't know what to do with the guilt. And every night, Jack appears in her dreams, lost and confused and wasting away. No matter how she tries to reach for his hand, she can never find it.
Desperate for answers, Nikki turns to Cole, the immortal bad boy who wants to make her his queen - and the one person least likely to help. But his heart has been touched by everything about Nikki, and he agrees to help in the only way he can: by taking her to the Everneath himself.
Nikki and Cole, along with Cole's bandmate Max, descend into the Everneath, only to discover that their journey will be more difficult than they anticipated - and more deadly. From a Lake of Blood and Guilt to Sirens' alluring tricks to insurmountable walls of rock and flame, the trio is given every reason to turn back and give up. But Nikki vows to stop at nothing to save Jack - even if it means making an incredible sacrifice of her own.
In this breathtaking sequel to Everneath, Brodi Ashton tests the bonds of destiny and explores the lengths we'll go to for the ones we love.
(Image and information courtesy of Goodreads; Summary lifted from actual book)
Review:
It's been months since Jack took Nikki's place in the Everneath, and Nikki's pretty desperate to get him back. She's all too familiar with the horrors and dangers of the Everneath, and she knows that her time to save him is running out. Nikki can only hope that Cole doesn't have any more tricks under his sleeve, as she enlists much needed help from a guy who's still convinced that they belong together. Faced with the trials and tribulations that Everneath will throw at Nikki and her companions to throw her off her mission, Nikki will have to blindly put her faith in Cole to save Jack from all that Everneath stands for.
A year ago, I devoured Ashton's Everneath with relish. When I surfaced up for air, I knew that the yearlong wait for the next book would be quite the death of me. Everneath was so good and so very different. For once, the heroine didn't choose the paranormal guy over the guy-next-door, and I very much welcomed the change.
Now that I've been dragged back to the Everneath, I would have gladly went back in time and told my 2012 self to calm down because the sequel was a bit disappointing.
What takes the spotlight in this sequel is Nikki and Cole's relationship. As Cole is begrudgingly tied up to Nikki's plans to help save Jack, it is out of love that he tries to keep Nikki safe and protected at all times in the Everneath. Nikki, on the other hand, alternates her life as a girl on a mission to save her sweet boyfriend, to an unsteady girl who regularly skips out on her dad and her appointments with the shrink as she is kicked - literally - back to earth at times. Ashton's characters are stable and in their respective zones all throughout the book, so you will not find me complaining about that aspect.
Everbound also provides the opportunity for readers to finally get an actual glimpse of Everneath, where public executions are held without remorse, and where souls are treacherous and deceptively cunning. Everneath, I found, zeroes in on the hell that we mostly have made up in our minds. Although admittedly, after exploring Everneath, I found my self getting tired of the world, I will have not many complaints about this factor either.
I also have no problems with Ashton's writing. As always, it is impeccable, and she has once again proved that she is one of those authors who can write whatever they wanted to write, and still come off as sound and logical.
The ending's the part where I get miffed. If Ashton had ended the series with this book, I would have been happy and sated. But instead, it seems that the author is going to pull us into an entirely different direction now that there has been an unexpected - but not improbable - twist. Since the story centers around Everneath, it seems that the author had to find a way to rope all her characters back to the origin of the whole story, and it really wasn't something that I found delightful. The surprise ending had me thinking as to whether I ought to continue the series, or to wash myself off of it altogether.
Nonetheless, I am giving this book a rating of 3 because the characters, world-building, and the flow of events were logical and consistent. I am still disappointed, however, with the way things turned out, and I do not find myself very curious as to how Nikki will get herself out of this new pickle.
Source of Copy: Purchased from Fully Booked
Summary:
Nikki Beckett could only watch as her boyfriend, Jack, sacrificed himself to save her, taking her place in the Tunnels of the Everneath for eternity - a debt that should've been hers. Now she is living a borrowed life, and she doesn't know what to do with the guilt. And every night, Jack appears in her dreams, lost and confused and wasting away. No matter how she tries to reach for his hand, she can never find it.
Desperate for answers, Nikki turns to Cole, the immortal bad boy who wants to make her his queen - and the one person least likely to help. But his heart has been touched by everything about Nikki, and he agrees to help in the only way he can: by taking her to the Everneath himself.
Nikki and Cole, along with Cole's bandmate Max, descend into the Everneath, only to discover that their journey will be more difficult than they anticipated - and more deadly. From a Lake of Blood and Guilt to Sirens' alluring tricks to insurmountable walls of rock and flame, the trio is given every reason to turn back and give up. But Nikki vows to stop at nothing to save Jack - even if it means making an incredible sacrifice of her own.
In this breathtaking sequel to Everneath, Brodi Ashton tests the bonds of destiny and explores the lengths we'll go to for the ones we love.
(Image and information courtesy of Goodreads; Summary lifted from actual book)
Review:
It's been months since Jack took Nikki's place in the Everneath, and Nikki's pretty desperate to get him back. She's all too familiar with the horrors and dangers of the Everneath, and she knows that her time to save him is running out. Nikki can only hope that Cole doesn't have any more tricks under his sleeve, as she enlists much needed help from a guy who's still convinced that they belong together. Faced with the trials and tribulations that Everneath will throw at Nikki and her companions to throw her off her mission, Nikki will have to blindly put her faith in Cole to save Jack from all that Everneath stands for.
Now that I've been dragged back to the Everneath, I would have gladly went back in time and told my 2012 self to calm down because the sequel was a bit disappointing.
What takes the spotlight in this sequel is Nikki and Cole's relationship. As Cole is begrudgingly tied up to Nikki's plans to help save Jack, it is out of love that he tries to keep Nikki safe and protected at all times in the Everneath. Nikki, on the other hand, alternates her life as a girl on a mission to save her sweet boyfriend, to an unsteady girl who regularly skips out on her dad and her appointments with the shrink as she is kicked - literally - back to earth at times. Ashton's characters are stable and in their respective zones all throughout the book, so you will not find me complaining about that aspect.
Everbound also provides the opportunity for readers to finally get an actual glimpse of Everneath, where public executions are held without remorse, and where souls are treacherous and deceptively cunning. Everneath, I found, zeroes in on the hell that we mostly have made up in our minds. Although admittedly, after exploring Everneath, I found my self getting tired of the world, I will have not many complaints about this factor either.
I also have no problems with Ashton's writing. As always, it is impeccable, and she has once again proved that she is one of those authors who can write whatever they wanted to write, and still come off as sound and logical.
The ending's the part where I get miffed. If Ashton had ended the series with this book, I would have been happy and sated. But instead, it seems that the author is going to pull us into an entirely different direction now that there has been an unexpected - but not improbable - twist. Since the story centers around Everneath, it seems that the author had to find a way to rope all her characters back to the origin of the whole story, and it really wasn't something that I found delightful. The surprise ending had me thinking as to whether I ought to continue the series, or to wash myself off of it altogether.
Nonetheless, I am giving this book a rating of 3 because the characters, world-building, and the flow of events were logical and consistent. I am still disappointed, however, with the way things turned out, and I do not find myself very curious as to how Nikki will get herself out of this new pickle.
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