Review: Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Everneath
(Everneath #1)

Author: Brodi Ashton

Publication Date: January 24th, 2012

Publisher: HarperCollins / Balzer + Bray

Genre: Paranormal / Mythology

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Synopsis:

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...

My Thoughts: Everneath is Brodi Ashton's debut novel and it is awesome!! I love mythology!! This book is based off of the myth about Orpheus and Eurydice, with a little bit focused around Persephone and Hades. I'm definitely a new fan of Ashton and can't believe that I waited so long to read this one. It's just been sitting on my bookshelf for the last 3 months with me always saying "next" (there's a couple of those books!). Finally though, I picked it up to give it a read. It's a fairly easy read, and every time I would look up and see where my bookmark was and how much I had read, I was surprised. It's just one of those books that when I was reading, I would forget about everything else and just get lost in the book.

The protagonist is Nikki Beckett. We start off with when she is waking up in the Everneath after a century long Feed, so when the Everlings  drain all the emotion from a human, maintaining their immortality for another century. Time passes differently in the Everneath, so only 6 month have gone by on  the Surface. So of course, she comes back looking like a strung out junkie and everyone assumes she was just lost to drugs. She doesn't know how she survived and remembered her life before, but it has something to do with Jack, the boy she loved.

I think one of the things that Iliked the most was the style that Ashton wrote this book in. It's basically just a huge countdown for when Nikki will be sucked back in to the Everneath, into the awful world of the Tunnels, where the last of her energy will be spent powering the Everneath until she just fades away. There has to be a way for her to survive, but it's pretty much inevitable. We also got a lot of flashbacks so we could see her relationships with the other characters and what made her decide to become a Forfeit (so  she volenteered to have her life sucked out of her). I just kept reading because I needed to know what was going to happen to her. I do have to say though, the end was a bit predictable. There was a bit of forshadowing though.

Overall, I think this is a great debut novel for Brodi Ashton and I will definitely be looking out for more from her in the future. There is mythology, romance and a bit of suspense. It has a few creepy moments,  but it ends nicely. Actually it left with somewhat of a cliffhanger, so I need to know what happens next and will be eagerly awaiting the next book in the series, Everbound. Should you read it? Yes, you should, especially if you are a fan of mythology! I definitely reccomend this one. Have you read any good YA lately that has a mythology theme? What would you recommend?