Review Detail

First Impressions: I found out early this fall that Brodi Ashton would be coming out with her very first novel and that it would have her take on a certain mythology legend, Hades-Persephone. Being the inner dork that I am, I knew that I wanted to get this book as quickly as I could! What can I say? I’m a total sucker for anything to do with mythology and/or old legends. Plus, if you ever get the chance to talk to this author, Brodi is one of the nicest people! She treats her fans so nice!

First 50 Pages: One of the things that I liked immediately about the story was the alternating narratives between the past and the present. It flip-flops between Nikki’s return to her home from spending six months in the Everneath, to her final six months before being dragged back down to the tunnel. It also includes everything that was going on leading up to the time that Nikki first went to the Everneath. That might sound confusing for some, but trust me, it’s not. The author does a fantastic job weaving all of these storylines together that also prepares you for the ending and the next book.

Almost needless to say, this fascinated me and had me totally hooked. I loved how the mythology was thrown into just about everywhere in this story. I also have to say that I didn’t think the play on ancient mythology was at all confusing. There have been some other books recently that go a tad bit overboard with explaining things in too great of detail that can make it hard to read or follow. I think that Everneath had just the right amount of detail to make it very entertaining without sounding like a textbook. I also want to point out and say that if you never heard of the original myth, don’t worry. I actually think that this re-telling of sorts is far more interesting than the original!

Plot & Characters: The story follows Nikki (of course) to the Everneath, which she initially believes is the land of the dead, but is really a place for immortals that make themselves immortal by feeding off of their human sacrifices. She actually volunteers herself for this in a moment of weakness and sadness and she comes back to the mortal world six months later. She will have an extremely tough decision to make before she is sucked back into this immortal land. Does she choose to become an Everliving (an immortal)? Or, will she become a human offering for the shades that lurk in the underworld? Oh, and then there are matters at home to settle and adjust to. How does one go back to normal after experiencing was Nikki has?

Nikki was an interesting character. When she decides what she wants to do, she doesn’t bend it anyone and sticks with her plans. She doesn’t compromise for anyone and I enjoyed that about this character. She knows what she wants, at least, she thinks she does. And as a pre-warning, there is a kind of love triangle going on in this story between Nikki, Jack (the earth boy), and Cole (the immortal, who well, fed on her she was in Everneath). I’m usually the first person to stand up and say that I can’t stand love triangles and that I get bored of them easily. Yet, in this particular book, I think it was necessary to have.

It’s really hard for me to say which boy I prefer. While Jack is a total sweetheart and completely worships the ground that Nikki walks on, Cole is a the bad boy per say, and well, I’m a total sucker for a good bad boy every now and then. I’m think I might be Team Cole on this one, but I think most people are going to swoon over Jack and his romantic ways.

Final Thoughts: The book ends with a cliff-hanger to set up for the next book in the series. Blah! Now I have to wait forever until I can find out what will happen next for these characters. I’m interested to see where exactly the author will take the story! This was a superb, mythology based book I think everyone will enjoy. I’d highly recommend seeking this one out in 2012!