Everneath audiobook

Yep. I totally just gave my own book five stars. :)

Sometime after this review was written Kat Kennedy and I traveled down the River Styx to interview Brodi Ashton. Check out the interview here!Right after I finished Everneath I gave it 4 stars right off the bat. It was an easy read with a great story and fantastical characters. Why didn't I give it five stars? I had to to think on that. So, I spent an entire week trying to figure out what it was about Everneath that I disliked. Conclusion: It's true, folks. I don't have any negative things to say about Everneath. I LOVED it. Everneath tells the story of Nikki Beckett, who having since vanished 6 months ago to the Everneath, returns to her family and friends seeking a way to permanently say goodbye before she returns to the Underworld for good. However, “bad boy”, Cole, the immortal who first took her to the Everneath, wants to make her his immortal queen and forget about those she left behind. With a period of only six months, Nikki struggles to fight her addiction to Cole, right her wrongs, and somehow find a loop hole that will keep her with her loved ones.There are a few aspects in Everneath that make it stand out above the usual follies in the paranormal romance genre. For all of those novels that have done it wrong over and over, Everneath does it right. What I LOVED and can't get enough of (baby):The Characters:Are you tired of the usual teen angst? The main character and the love interest seeming to have some whack, ass-grabbed excuse for why they can't be together? Well, so am I. Each character in this book felt like they were extremely well-developed with real issues. Nikki is looking for redemption for something she knows is her fault. She's not looking for anyone to save her. She's not pouting in the corner having a FML moment. She's doing something about it. It was her decision to go with Cole to the Everneath and allow him to feed off of her. She could have blamed it on Jack's actions, but she took full responsibility. Cole is a very complex character. He tries very hard to convince Nikki to leave her home and become an immortal, Everliving, like him and rule as queen. But, Nikki doesn't want that. While reading, the reader is left to wonder if he is genuine when he says he cares about her or is her just playing her. Somehow Ashton manages to make us somewhat sympathetic to Cole, but she still reminds the reader that he is the bad boy. How many times do we see the heroine being instantly swept away by the bad boy's good looks? Or how about getting lost in his glorious deep eyes, that also happen to be the exact shade of the darkest pits in hell? Or my personal favorite: stalk me! I love it when you creep! *barf* Kill me now. Nikki doesn't back down from her guns. Cole follows her and she tells his ass to take a hike. Cole stakes out at her window and she tells that fool to get lost. However, there always still remains intrigue surrounding Cole. I expect to see a lot more from him in the next book.Jack is the sweetest love interest I've read about in a while. He never gives up on Nikki when she disappears for 6 months. He was supportive and kind throughout the entire novel. Ladies, and I'm not saying this mildly, if you love Tucker Avery (view spoiler)[if you don't know who that is, you are DEAD to me! (view spoiler)[just kidding...sorta (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)], then I'm sure you will love Jack too. Jack suspects something is amiss with Nikki and despite her not being as forthcoming about it, he steadily is always there patiently waiting until she is ready to talk. I mean, how can you say no to a book with characters that awesome?! The Triangle of Love:Ashton plays this pretty slick. As I've already mentioned, Nikki avoids Cole's advances, but I know where this is headed. I'm just way too smart to be fooled!But, you know what? I think this will be one of those cases where I'll like it. In fact, I'm going to make a rather bold statement here and say this love triangle resembles Cynthia Hand's Unearthly. Yes, I said it. You see Hand and Ashton are doing something very interesting with their romances. They both have strong female leads that clearly have a preference in the department of who they want to end up with. They struggle to ward off advances from the other male love interest, but because of factors out of their control (this is called a plot people!) they must tolerate him. He isn't around just to make the "good guy" look extra nice with his boy next door, award winning smile. He has a purpose besides trying to steal away the girl. Not only that, but the heroine knows this and tries everything in her power to not get involved with the "bad boy" because, duh!, he is BAD. And that is why it works for me. It makes me so happy someone has stopped trying to sell me the arrogant "bad boy" as a viable love interest when he has zero redeeming features! Thank you, Ashton. Gold star!One of the best messages this novel has is the consequences of co-dependent relationships. They reason why Nikki left to go to the Everneath was a direct result of an event involving her boy friend, Jack (coupled with a few other things). Similarly, Jack loses it completely when Nikki disappears. The reason why it works in this story is because both characters acknowledged those actions were not healthy and both regretted it. Their knee-jerk reaction and violent depression is not romanticized in any way. I really wish more authors portrayed this message more often in their novels because it's important to show that losing your boy friend/girl friend can suck, but it is not the end of the world. The Plot:That's right, this book has one! Nikki is on a mission: redemption. That is what she attempts to gain in this novel. When she disappeared into the Everneath 6 months ago, she left a lot of relationships strained and now she is looking to fix them. She doesn't stray from that path and suddenly start fantasizing about the "bad boy" randomly. This is what makes this book such a winner because too often I see the plot being left in the bloody dust because an author thought it would be "totally romantic" to have the heroine frolic through the gardens with one of her boy toys. I'm happy to say that did not happen here. You ever heard of the saying "no romance without finance"? Well, I'm introducing a new saying: No romance without plot progress. While this is a paranormal romance through and through, the plot is always in the front. The Ending:So sad, but so perfect. I love how things are tied up nicely, yet you know there is more to come. I'm really excited to read the next book, but I don't feel like Ashton left me to walk the plank with Everneath's ending. Thank you for that. There are only so many cliffhangers I can take before my poor little heart gives out. It will be very interesting to see where she takes this story. So, if you are tired of the usual run of the mill paranormal romances, you should head right on over to your book store and pick up Everneath. You're in for a treat!ARC received through NetGalley. As always, these are my honest opinions and I was not paid for my review!More reviews like this at Cuddlebuggery Book Blog.["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>

Whilst reading this I happened to glance over at my mirror and see the expression on my face - my mouth was open, my eyes were wide... needless to say, I looked like a complete moron. But that should give you some indication of how much this story surprised me. I confess that I didn't expect to like it that much and it's obviously time I stop making these predictions when I'm nearly always wrong. I should also stop trying to work out what certain things appeal to me in books, these theories also fall flat on their faces.I'm not going to sell this book as something it isn't, from the beginning there is a very heavy romantic element and a lot of the story is built up around the idea that Nikki has returned (after a century in Everneath, six months to the human world) for the purpose of rekindling her romance with her past boyfriend, or at the very least seeing him for one last time before the Tunnels claim her forever. A lot of the book is definitely paranormal romance, or PNR, or even Love in a Supernatural Climate - take your pick. But I wasn't put off by this.A lot of the story is interwoven with parts of Greek and Egyptian mythology, which I liked very much. It was well thought-out, made sense, seemed fairly original (well, I haven't read anything like it) and even though a lot of it was romance-centred I still didn't feel that it claimed the novel. I was intrigued by the whole concept of this Everneath, a place almost like hell but rather than being a place for sinners, it's a place for Everlivings - who drain souls for energy - and the souls that have been drained.I think what I liked best, that saved the book from being nothing more than a love story, was the characters. So many young adult books make the entire novel about the female protagonist and her male love interest and, apart from the occasional over-stereotyped mean girl, they disregard all other characters. But Everneath explores Nikki's relationship with her friend, her father and her brother as well as her boyfriend. I just wish she didn't have to blush so much. There's this one part of the story where Jack says: "I know you're worried about that..." and just the small word emphasis makes her "turn red all over". Come on, this is the 21st century, surely every girl doesn't blush at the mention of that, do they? And if they do, why don't the boys? Because boys are wild, experienced-from-birth, sexual animals that you have to fight off with a stick and girls are meek, mild and pure? I'm not saying that's what the author wanted to portray but the sexually smirking guy meets innocent girl seems to be a common theme in these types of books.And also, is that a potential love triangle I spy there? I don't know, it seems pretty one-sided right now but there's clearly more books to come.

*This ARC was provided to me by HarperCollins. No money or favours were exchanged for this review - much to my chagrin!November Madness is what I nicknamed this month. With a variety of very interesting looking titles becoming available for galley grab, to many readers, it appeared to be a smorgasbord of literary delights.Everneath is one such of these delights and, in my opinion, completely deserves the hype.Becks, a seventeen year old girl, wakes up from a hundred year-long hibernation with bad-boy supernatural, Cole. He’s been feeding from her to replenish himself, above the surface only six months have passed. Becks returns to her life a husk of her former self. Emaciated, numb to emotion and damaged. She has six months to live before being dragged back into hell but she wants to see her exboyfriend, Jack, one more time before she goes.If I were to find a movie to compare this book to, I suppose it would be a mix between The Labyrinth and Drugstore Cowboy (or The Man With A Golden Arm if you’re going to be persnickety). In fact, the whole book is a rather excellent drug metaphor. This hit home for me in a big way and was perhaps why I was especially moved and addicted (sorry!) by this novel. The book is agonizingly beautiful in that Becks honestly struggles as a drug addict would and one could argue that all the fantastical elements in this book are Beck’s psychosis trying to deal with her recovery and past experiences. Jack was her love before The Feeding and Ashton breaks up the novel with several flashbacks to give us insight into Beck’s fall from grace. Cole, on the otherhand, is the perfect counterbalance. He is dark, seductive, effortlessly tempting. He is like a devil on Beck’s shoulder. He follows her everywhere trying to tempt her back. He has a weird relationship with Beck’s that is part dependency, part companionship that sufficiently muddies the usual moralities shuffled through in other such novels. It’s very clear, often, that Beck’s struggle to resist Cole is painful, sometimes a little nonsensical and takes an extraordinary strength of will and character.Ashton weaves Cole’s character as being both despicable and yet sympathetic. It’s hard to entirely dismiss Cole as evil and yet you can hardly claim he’s good. He’s almost the culmination of almost every paranormal badboy douche who gets romanticized in these kinds of novels. Ashton takes that kind of character to his final conclusion and releases him upon her novel like a tornado. Yes, readership, there are boys out there who are gorgeous, dangerous, sexy-beyond-all-reason and effortlessly charming. But they will also suck you down into hell, suck you dry and in the end they just plain suck. Jack is the excellent counter-balance in this novel. Damaged, yet loving and courageous he battles to keep Becks from being dragged back into the Everneath. Their relationship isn’t always strong. There’s so much honest emotion and history with these two characters that their relationship arc is solid and real.I found the pacing of Everneath was smooth but fans of action and adventure books will probably find themselves itching for more. This is a book about people. People healing, people trusting, people trying to tear that all down again. There’s a plot and there’s a rushing timeline looming in the background but there’s not a lot of fists and falcon punches. Ashton’s writing is strong and serves well for this novel. Her use of imagery is great and she manages to create a rather unique and coherent mythology in this book.But be warned, this is a trilogy and Ashton leaves her novel on a heartbreaking cliff-hanger of sorts. I am eagerly awaiting the sequel and this book goes on my to-buy list when released!

Hades and Persephone, we've all heard the story. Of all the myths, this is easily my favorite. When I saw that Everneath was a retelling of this heartbreaking tale, I was instantly attracted to it. However, I was mistaken. This is not a Persephone and Hades retelling per se, but a modernized, completely original story that is loosely based on the myths of Persephone and Eurydice. It was beautiful!First and foremost, the character that breathes powerfully throughout this book, is the emotion. It is full of raw, pure, palpable emotions. I could constantly sense Nikki's despair. Even when stripped of all feeling, she had this hollowness that I could easily discern; a void once full of energy. She lost everything to the Everneath, and six months is an incredibly short time when you know what you're going back to. My heart was breaking for her, while holding on to a tiny flicker of hope that things would turn around.You can't start describing Nikki without first understanding Cole. Cole is manipulative and cunning, which is capitalized by the fact that he can control emotions. He wants Nikki; Nikki loves Jack. So while her actions can seem a bit rash, even impulsive, Cole plays a big role behind these decisions. Her doubts, her pain, her fears, they're all fabricated, or at the very least, magnified by Cole. With this in play, I couldn't help but open my heart up to her. She becomes his puppet, and it's tragic. Cole and Jack are complete opposites which makes a fantastic love triangle. One you will love, and one you will love to hate. To add to the trepidation, the story shifts from past to present in a way that leaves you feeling restless. You KNOW what's going to happen while seeing these events unfold. It keeps the story intriguing, while building anticipation for a shattering ending. Was it predictable? Yes. But was it original? Completely. This fresh take on the Persephone myth mixes the old with the new for an altogether beautiful and dark tale. --For more of my reviews, visit my blog at Xpresso Reads

History books call it the Underworld. Or even hell. But I know it's neither. It is really called the Everneath, and it's not a place for the dead. It's a place for the Everliving – beings who have discovered the secret to eternal life. It's a place for their Forfeits – the humans who give up everything to nourish the Everliving. It's the world caught between this one and the next, a layer between Earth and hell. I know because I was a Forfeit. I would give anything to change this.The myth of Hades and Persephone has proven to be quite the inspirational point for many young adult authors as of late, whether it be for another run-of-the-mill paranormal romance (Meg Cabot's Abandon, Gwen Hayes's Falling Under) or even a lesbian retelling (Sarah Diemer's The Dark Wife). To my delight, however, there are writers out there who are actually taking a few more steps with creative license and innovation to try and make the story their own. Brodi Ashton's Everneath is one such attempt...and it mostly succeeds in being fresh and "trend-defying" in a convoluted landscape of paranormal YA.After an overload of life's burdens, Nikki Beckett did the unthinkable: she escaped her life through darkness and became fodder for a boy named Cole, feeding off her emotions and hailing from a dark eternal land called Everneath. After one hundred years spent in this between plane, she miraculously did not lose herself or her memories – but, even after she chooses to return Above and to the home she left, she feels the attraction to the boy who offered her an addiction and an escape rolled into one. Which pull will prove greater: the allure of the dark boy who can take everything away, or the love she feels for Jack, the boy she left behind? And will it even matter, given that she will return to the Everneath in six months' time?I'll admit that I'm not the greatest fan of paranormal YA these days, but Everneath was surprisingly refreshing in that it actually seemed to address some of the problems in other young adult narratives. Nikki isn't an idiotic narrator by any means and, though she's flawed and stubborn, she's not unlikeable or unsympathetic. It also helps that she resists Cole, who tries to manipulate and trap her into thinking that what he desires is what she herself should want as well. Cole thrives as an antagonistic force when Nikki is isolated and friendless – but, once Nikki starts getting a hold back on her life and what remains of her time left, he gets worried and tries to take matters into his own hands. But Nikki doesn't just let him win: she fights back.Everneath also shines because of the relationship between Nikki and once-boyfriend Jack, shown through scenes of both past (in happier times) and present (in Nikki's darker post-Everneath days). Though there are many issues and hurt and misunderstandings between them, they eventually begin to come to terms with all of it together because, as much as Nikki tries to stay away, she can't deny that her memories of Jack were what kept her sane and whole in her time in Everneath. I was really moved by them as a couple and convinced by their feelings for one another, and I can't often say such a thing about a paranormal YA couple wholeheartedly as I can with Nikki and Jack.Also of note is the foundation for the Everliving's world, layered with Greek and Egyptian mythology. It was quite an interesting spin on old ideas, blended in such a way that I was left intrigued by many of the concepts relating to the Everneath and hopeful that many of them will be explored more in-depth in the next two books.The only real issue I had with the novel was that it fell into the trap of "disappearing parent syndrome." Yes, I know that absent parents often serve to further a plot more readily, but would Nikki's father, the mayor of the town, really have acted so nonchalant about his daughter's absence and then her explanation of rehab? Really? And then he's so worried about his re-election campaign that he can't be bothered much with his newly returned daughter? I don't know. Sure, it's realistic in a sense since there are parents out there like that, but...it rubbed me the wrong way since it's such an "easy maneuver" that so many YA authors take nowadays when the real challenge would be to write caring, yet non-overbearing, parents in YA narratives.Some minor flaws aside, I would recommend Everneath for being a paranormal young adult book that does so many things right in a a genre where it's so easy for authors to get so much wrong, wrong, wrong. For anyone who has been burned by paranormal YA far too often, this book is for you. I hope that it will restore some of your faith in this sinking ship of a genre since maybe, just maybe, authors like Brodi Ashton can actually manage to salvage the ship before it passes the waters of no return.Note: I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

There might be times in your life when you feel that you’ve hit the very bottom and that you can’t take it anymore.Try to imagine for a moment that you have lost everything you care about. That someone would tell you that it’s in his power to take all your pain away.. What would you do? Would you take the chance?You might say “no”, you might say “maybe” or even you might agree..But what if it is not only the pain that it’s taken away from you, what if you’re fading away with every memory, with every beat of your heart, with every second until there is nothing but void… you turn to nothing (even with the promise of immortality)What memory do you think you could keep hidden in your heart to wake you to life, to call for you when you’re lost?Would it be about your family, or friends, or a lover?Will it be a face, a smile, a happy moment?.. Nikki has lost what she thought that it was ‘everything’ for her and she has decided that she doesn’t want to feel the pain any longer. She has given herself away (when a boy called Cole told her that he can erase all her suffering), now she has no feelings, her memory is back in pieces, and she has a few months to say goodbye to the people she cares about and then she will disappear from this world for ever.The only thing she recalls is the face of a boy, her first love, and one of her big disappointments – Jack. Every breath I took meant another grain of sand in my hourglass disappeared, and I only had a few left. I tried not breathing. With the time ticking her life away she doesn’t have many choices.It all sounds simple: say goodbye to Jack, to her father and her brother. She thinks that she has enough time to prepare herself, to say how sorry she is, to leave it all behind. But simple is just a word, and life is never simple.…Now old friends come back from the past, misunderstandings are revealed, Nikki’s heart starts to feel again, but all the love in the world is not enough to protect her, to keep her for disappearing again.Her only chance is to use all the time she has to find a way to cheat “fate”; her only chance is to get Cole to tell her what could she do to break the unbreakable, but would he do that for her, or even could he?I liked how she doubted Cole from time to time, but then her doubts would vanish and the numbness would return again. I liked how she and Jake got to become close again, day by day, how she remembered more of their moments together (oh, how I liked the sparks of life from the memories) and I liked how Jake wouldn’t give up on her no matter what.They were cute together and my heart was breaking with every chapter seeing how little time they had together and how much of it did they waste.Also Cole was quite a mystery, and one that I would want to uncover. He was fun to be around and if it wasn’t for the fact that he was sucking feelings out of people I might have liked him a lot better.So, if you like paranormal stories with a touch of mythology and some interesting characters, this is your chance. I hope that you will enjoy it as much as I did.Book Source: ARC from the publisher via Netgalley – Thank you very much! This review can also be found at ReadingAfterMidnight.com____________________________________________Blog (EN) | Facebook | Twitter | Tumblr | Bloglovin' | Blog (RO)____________________________________________

Summary of Review Below: Fan-freaking-tastic!!Nikki was drawn to the Everneath by Cole. When Nikki was in the Everneath the only memories she retained were those of her boyfriend Jack. By some miraculous miracle, Nikki survives the feeding in the Everneath and returns to the Surface six months after disappearing just to see Jack again. Nikki tries to put back together the pieces of her shattered life and make her final goodbyes before the Tunnels capture her for good. This gif sums up my feelings towards this book pretty well:I LOVED this book. I was intrigued and interested in this series after having read the synopsis. The second I picked up the book, I couldn't put it down. This book has basically everything that I'm looking for. Paranormal? Check. Good writing? Check. Good plot? Check. Awesome main character? Check. Hot guys? Check AND check. The Storyline/Writing:In the beginning I was a bit confused with all of the terminology. Along the way though, everything is explained. I really liked the "Past" and "Now" variation to the story. Instead of Nikki or someone else just telling a long story of the crucial events that took place before this book (which would be so boring), Ashton uses the past and present writing tool. It worked quite well and there were never instances where the switching between times was annoying. I equally loved both past and present scenes! The writing was descriptive and detailed. I loved the modern storytelling of Hades and Persephone aspect. The Characters: All of the characters in this book are so wonderful. They are realistic and emotional and act like actual human beings. No one is perfect. No one is too outlandishly damaged. There's a certain realness to the characters. Nikki is a great main character. She is so funny and sweet and kind and smart. Her little brother is adorable. Jack and Cole. Wow. More on them later. The Love Triangle:Usually I don't really like love triangles. The only ones I like and appreciate are the strong love triangles where you have no idea who the main character will pick, and you love both of the guys. This is one of those books."Team Jack! Wait no, Team Cole!!! Wait but... Team Jack!! No Team Cole!!"OK, I don't really know which team I am. I keep changing teams!! Jack is such a wonderful person. He is so handsome and strong and gentle and caring and thoughtful. Cole is the hot bad boy with the arrogance and humor. How ever will I choose?The Ending:I really didn't see it coming. The whole book was fantastic, but the last 50 pages were phenomenal. I still can't believe that ending ;(Things that I didn't like:I highly recommend this book to YA readers!!

Okay, so a few years back I critiqued some first pages at a writers' conference. There were a couple of stories that were fine but forgettable, some that were terrible, one that had so many made-up fantasy words that it might as well have been written in Finnish, and a cute little ten year old girl with quite a good alien abduction story. And then a lovely blonde in the corner of the room read her first pages, about a high school girl who's been missing for six months, and everyone assumes she's on drugs when she reappears, gaunt and haunted . . . but in reality she's just spent a century in the underworld. GRIPPING! FASCINATING! ACTUALLY GOOD!Fast forward a couple of years and I meet Brodi Ashton through Bree Despain, and at a restaurant one night we start talking about that writers' conference, and I say, "Geez, I wish I knew what happened to that chick with the story about the girl serving time in hell." And Brodi goes, "Are you making fun of me?" Me: "No! Why?" Because that was her, the story was EVERNEATH, and she'd just gotten a contract for it. I was ecstatic for her!But could the rest of the book live up to the promise of those first pages? Why yes, yes it could. I LOVED this book! This was a creepy, fabulous twist on the myth of the underworld, mixing Persephone's story with Orpheus and Eurydice. Not only that, it was good YA. These were believable teens, talking in believable ways. There were enough details about school to make it seem real, without driving the reader crazy with minutiae. The bad guy really needed to be punched, repeatedly, about the head and genitals, and (this sounds horrible but its true) I loved how messed up Nikki was by her time in the Everneath. The little details about her hands shaking, and the way she just felt so fragile, were amazing. Now that paranormal romance has its own department at Barnes & Noble, there are a lot of formulaic books out there. It's like, cue love triangle, cue reveal that he's a supernatural being, and begin trendy playlist! This is not one of those books, though. This is a real standout, with some VERY unexpected twists and some truly skillful writing.I can't wait for EVERBOUND!

So for https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/... the book picked to read was... EverneathThis book follows Nikki, who gave up her life on earth because of a broken heart, after a century of being locked up in the everneath,the underworld. She finally is allowed to spend 6 months to try and live her her life on earth and maybe reconnect with her boyfriend jack but there is also Cole, the boy who she spent a century with in the everneath and who cares about her deeply.This book is on one my favrouite books ever! Persephone and Hades is my favrouite myth and for someone that studies classics, this twist on the tale was beautifully written.I loved how Brodi Ashton wrote the flashback and then the flash forwards.CHARACTERS-Nikki is a very strong female protagonist, she knows what she wants and she goes out and gets it.You really see her descions show who she is as a person.Jack is my least favrouite character, I think in this book he dragged Nikki down. A lot of people adore jack in this book and I can understand why but he definitely not for me.Cole is the most amazing character in this book, in my opinion and he will always be my favrouite. Cole honestly loves Nikki, and you could totally see that throughout the book. He would do anything for her and you see that by his speech and his actions.ROMANCE-So everyone ships Jack and Nikki, but here I am Team Cole and Nikki. Jack isn't good for Nikki, like he drags her down and she has to make her descions based around him.With Cole though, she has a witty strong relationship and you could really engage with them.WRITING-The whole story was well-written and the mythology aspect was amazing.This is such an under appreciated book and that really upsets me.

Entusiasmante e originale, meraviglioso.I ❤ mythologyDovete sapere che il mio amore per la mitologia greca nasce alla scuola elementare, quando la maestra Caterina ci leggeva l'Iliade e l'Odissea . . . e indovinate un po' qual è la mia divinità preferita? Yep, proprio lui!ADE, SIGNORE DEGLI INFERIPerciò, quando sentii parlare di questo libro, un retelling in chiave paranormal del mito di Ade e Persefone, non potei fare a meno di inserirlo nel mio ordine!  Secondo il mito, Ade, dio degli Inferi, si era innamorato di Persefone, l'aveva rapita e aveva cercato di farne la sua regina. Quando, con l'inganno, era riuscito a farle mangiare sei semi di melagrana, lei si era trovata costretta a vivere negli Inferi per sei mesi l'anno. Rapimento e reclusione. Era un mito orribile. Mi chiesi che fine avesse fatto l'eroe di Persefone.Ma . . . e se vi dicessi che tratta anche Orfeo e Euridice? Oooh, allora . . .Venite con me, verso un mondo d'incanto.Il romanzo si apre con un groviglio di braccia, gambe, ombre. Sono Cole e Nikki, rimasti lì, nell'Everneath, per un secolo. Lei è un Pegno, e nessun Pegno, dopo il Pasto, sa più chi è. Ma Nikki sì, perché in quei cento anni si è aggrappata con tutte le sue forze all'unico ricordo in grado di tenerla in vita.Un volto.JACK.Ora, Nikki è Ritornata in superficie per vederlo un'ultima volta, prima che l'ombra dentro di lei si espanda definitivamente e i Tunnel la reclamino come batteria per alimentare l'Everneath.A meno che Cole, l'Eterno che si è nutrito di lei per cento anni, non la convinca a diventare un'Eterna.  «Voglio quello che avevano Ade e Persefone, e senza di te non posso averlo. L'unica volta che la regina dell'Everneath è stata detronizzata è stata quando un Eterno ha trovato la sua metà perfetta. Ho passato tutta la vita – ed è stata una vita lunga, fidati! – a cercare la mia, e sei tu. Ho capito che eri diversa dal primo momento in cui ti ho vista. Nello stesso istante in cui hai poggiato le tue mani sulle mie.»Cole è disposto a tutto, pur di averla al suo fianco.Cole, che non dovrebbe provare alcuna emozione. Che non può provarne.  «Nel caso cominciassi a pensare di poterti nascondere. I Tunnel ti troveranno. Non puoi sfuggire. Non puoi batterli. e Finché avrai quel marchio, ti troveranno.» «Che cosa ti importa, se cerco di scappare?» «I Tunnel possono rintracciarti, ma io no» bisbigliò sottovoce.Ma, mio carissimo Cole, hai decisamente sottovalutato il tuo avversario umano.Perché Jack Caputo è intenso e penetrante. È un quarterback, e loro non si arrendono mai. Lottano con tutte le loro forze finché la partita non si è conclusa.  Sentivo i suoi occhi su di me, mentre aspettava una risposta. L'attesa si prolungò, al punto che chiunque altro si sarebbe sentito a disagio. Eppure lui se ne stava lì seduto a osservarmi. In attesa. Paziente. Immobile.Mio caro Cole, hai sottovalutato il grande amore che lega la tua Nikki a lui.A lui.Non a te.  «Dimmi perché ti importa» insistetti. Appoggiò le mani sul davanzale. «Perché si tratta di te. Nonostante quello che pensi del sottoscritto, il tuo dolore sarà sempre il mio.»Aw, chetati, mio cuore! Ho amato da impazzire questo Eterno dai capelli biondi e gli occhi scuri perché, pur non potendo sentire (in teoria), prova così tante emozioni a causa di Nikki. Ne è letteralmente travolto e non sa gestirle. Non credo le abbia mai provate, di conseguenza non sa come comportarsi.  «Tu sei nociva per me, Nik» disse tra un respiro affannoso e l'altro.Si lascia dominare da esse.E la gelosia è la più pericolosa di tutte.  «Lasciami in pace, Cole. Posso essere legata a doppio filo ai Tunnel, ma non sono più legata a te. Non hai alcun potere su di me.» «Non immagini nemmeno cosa potrei fare» mi minacciò.Oooh yep. Qualunque cosa, pur di avere Nikki. Vero, piccolo Cole? Persino un travestimento sovrumano per poterle stare vicino anche a scuola.Per poter vedere con i tuoi occhi quanto è forte il suo legame con Jack.  «Sei stata tu a forzarmi la mano.» «Lasciami andare, Neal» sibilai, usando il suo falso nome. «Se solo fosse così facile.»E allora resti, anche se fa male da morire, vederla con lui.Con il ragazzo che lei ama con tutta l'anima.Un ragazzo che non sei tu. Non sarai mai tu.  «A volte il nostro cuore... si incrina un po'.»Ma dov'è il tuo cuore, Cole? Non nel tuo petto, non c'è battito. Ma se ci fosse? Lo affideresti a Nikki? Quanto è grande la tua fiducia in lei?  «Che cosa? Che cosa vuoi?» «Te, Nik.» Fece un paio di respiri profondi. «Voglio te. Che saliamo al trono o no. Ti voglio nella mia vita, e il solo modo in cui ciò può avvenire è che tu diventi uguale me. Abbiamo condiviso un cuore, Nik.» Posò un dito sul mio petto. «Il tuo cuore è dentro di me, adesso.»Amore. Amore. Amore.Il tuo può battere quello di un eroe?  Jack non mi aveva mai dimenticata. Non aveva mai smesso di amarmi. Lui era l'àncora che mi aveva salvata.Un inizio sensazionale, con un finale al cardiopalma, per una serie da leggenda! ✤ Leggi la recensione sul blog ✤★ COMPRA ORA CON 1-CLICK ★|| Facebook || Twitter || Pinterest ||

4,5 starsI'll be strictly honest here: The first and main reason why I own this book is it's georgeus cover.When I first opened account here on goodreads, back in 2013, I couldn't help but notice it and a material girl in me wanted to have it on her shelf.Only recently I learned that Everneath is a reteling of a greek myth about Persephone.You have my premission to judge me!In the first few chapters I was little afraid this would be one of those ya books that have so many similarities with Twilight. I was little annoyed how Nikki went in Return and all she was thinking about was Jack. The main reason why that annoyed me was that she didn't spend that much time with her brother and dad. She claimed she wanted to spend her last days in Return with people she loved, but it seemed to me that for a first few months she spend them alone.I know her dad was busy and had elections, so that explains his absence, but why there was no more scenes with her little brother?I had a feeling that in the first half of the book we only get to know about him when Cole mentions him, and Nikki's afraid Cole would hurt him, but we don't get actual scenes with Nikki and little Tommy.After I got over that I actually started to enjoy the story.Nikki was an okay main character. She wasn't Mary Sue most of time. She was very slefless and that sometimes got on my nerves.At first I wasn't a fan of Jack but somewhere in the third third of the story I fell for him. I am Team Jack all the way!Cole was an interesting charater but I never precieved him as a love interest. Despise that, I'm looking forward to read more about him.I never paid much attention to Jules. She was just there. I know she had a reason to be in the story, but I didn't feel interested enough to connect with her.The most ineresting person in this book was Meredith.The writing style in not unique but it is not as ussual eather. As we read we go back and forward from past to present.It is also beautiful and I found some noteworthy quotes that I underlined in my copy of the book.Overall, I had a good time reading this book and I will gladly continue with the series.My reaction right after finishing the book:I can't believe I read this book in a day!I guess that's what happens when the book is good!

Quick review:Cover: So pretty Rating: PG-13 Thumbs Up: 4.5Overall: OMG, so good.Characters: Well WrittenPlot: Getting a second chance to say goodbyePage Turner: Yes Series Cont.? Yes Recommend: YesBook Boyfriend: JackSUMMARY (50 words or less)I got this one at an audible sale and I was so completely happy with my purchase. This story had it all, drama, romance, suspense and intrigue. It was a little predictable at times. I overlooked that because I just wanted to see it all play out. For a full review and yummy pic, see my blog post at:http://mybookboyfriend.blogspot.com/2...Audio ReivewAmy Rubinate did a good job with the narration.

3.75-4 stars “Stay with me, Becks. Dream of me. I am ever yours.” It's very rare of me to cry over a paranormal book, it's not that they don't reach me deep down, it's just that I'm always busy figuring out twists and puzzles and how they would survive over those paranormal obstacles. And yes, of course, I do swoon over the romantic and sweet moments. I go gaga over those heroes' heroic deeds and sacrifices just to save their significant someone and prove how much they mean to them and love them and whenever they say the sweetest things, I just melt. But no one has ever struck me as much as Jack's love for Nikki! It was hauntingly beautiful, heart warming and real. It din't just had me swooning but it also reached me and tugged my heart in the most amazing and heartrending way. This was a mixture of the story of Persephone and Hades, Orpheus and Euridyce and a twist of some Egyptian mythology. And sure enough that made this book really unique and interesting. When I started this I was instantly swallowed by Nikki's voice and emotion. It was heavy and intense, I felt her grieves, and regrets and it just made my heart ache for her. Still there were times that I love her and times that I hate her. But as she started taking actions and as she developed throughout the story she became a very admirable and amazing character.Even though I was extremely touched by this book and although I really did enjoy it I still had some frustrations over it. I could understand Nikki's flaws and misguided choices but it doesn't mean I have to like it. There was this point that I wanted to tell she's so stupid! And although she did admit that it was her own doing that ruined her life and that she regretted it I was still a bit annoyed with her since she didn't exactly do anything right away when she came back. It was frustrating especially there with Cole, I wanted to shake her so bad and beg her to please get really angry at Cole! Around the middle part of the book I was really hopeless about her and Jack. So I was really glad when things finally started picking up around the later parts. That was the most exciting and interesting parts. Where twist and secrets were revealed and when Nikki finally started standing up and fighting for herself and Jack. Jack. He's the most sweetest and most committed guy I'd ever met! I don't know if I there's anything negative I can say about him. He's a very patient, faithful and loving character. It literally broke my heart when I learned all the hardships he'd been through. There's no word for me to describe how strong his feelings for Nikki. All those things he's done to save Nikki is just downright amazing and heart warming. And whenever Jack is present you could clearly see the love in him. (view spoiler)[That's why the ending nearly destroyed me! I seriously cried a lot. When I finished this I didn't know there was a sequel, I thought it was a one-shot novel and that's already the ending. I was so happy when I learned there'd be a next book!I almost did a happy dance in front of my mom! lol! (hide spoiler)]As for Cole, he's annoying and I just wanted him to go far far away but in all honesty I could say he's pretty endearing and intriguing. There were some parts that showed that he could be really kind and good but with all those things he did to Nikki, how he manipulated her I just can't seem really like him. This was a very unique and wonderful paranormal book with a very heartwarming and moving love story. The characters were great and endearing and I was deeply touched by them and their story. I would definitely love to recommend this to everyone.This review is also posted at Book Overdose

I battled ninjas to get the ARC of this book!So worth it. This book was heartbreaking from page one. It begins with a simple but evocative description of the Everneath: it is an underworld where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans.Nikki Beckett chose to go to the Everneath. She’s been gone for a century — though on the surface, it’s only been six months. She Returns for another six months, this time to say good-bye to her family and friends before she’s banished back to the Everneath forever. But this time offers her a choice, too: either the Tunnels will come for her and devour the last of her emotions, or she can go back and try to be a queen — but she will have to consume the emotions of others.EVERNEATH is very myth-inspired: Hades/Persephone, Orpheus/Eurydice, even Osiris/Isis. Brodi weaves all these myths together seamlessly, creating a new and frightening underworld filled with immortals, mysterious High Court, and terrifying Tunnels and Shades.There were so many things I loved about EVERNEATH: Nikki’s voice when she Returns; her determination to learn more about Cole, the immortal who lured her to the Feed; and her relationship with her boyfriend Jack. I loved so much that Nikki and Jack had a foundation to their relationship, that they were friends first and knew each other before they became soulmates. I loved the slow way they came to know each other again after Nikki’s Return, and how they both had to fight for the chance to be together again.I loved the mystery. What happened that drove Nikki to the Everneath? Why was she willing to let Cole Feed on her emotions for a century? These answers unfolded at just the right moments. Every time I thought I figured something out before the characters, they were on it a couple paragraphs later.I loved way we saw Nikki’s life before and after the Feed. It was easy to see why she felt overwhelmed with the need to lose herself to the Everneath. And easy to see why, after her Return, she would fight so hard to stay. Even though the Tunnels are coming for her no matter what.And oh, the end. Powerful. Heartbreaking. Totally the only way this could have ended.I can’t way to see where book two takes us.