Friday, February 8, 2013

Everbound (Everneath #2) by Brodi Ashton Book Review


 Everbound

Author: Brodi Ashton
Reading level: Ages 13 and up
Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: Balzer + Bray (January 22, 2013)
Language: English

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'd 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.


Review:
In the last book, Everneath, we left off with Jack making the ultimate sacrifce of saving Nikki from the Tunnels, taking her place. Nikki, now drowning in her own guilt, is resolved to get him back. She soon realizes that she needs an "escort" through the Everneath and begs, pleads, and finally encourages Cole to help her.

The story takes us through the many rings of the Everneath, where our characters are tested in every way possible. Using her tether to Jack, created through her emotional bond to him, Nikki, Cole, and Max run into Sirens, Wanderers, Shades and eventually, the  Everneath Queen.

They go through three big and complicated obstacles of a maze called The Ring of Water, The Ring of Wind, and the Ring of Fire. They also are running away from Wanderes who are like "zombies with brains," and Sirens who can alter their appearance to take the form of a person's loved ones.

In order to keep track of where Jack is, Nikki has a tether, which is somewhat like a compass, and for Nikki not to loose Jack, she would tell stories about her life with him. This is a good way for readers to get more of a backstory on what Nikki's life was like with Jack in her early highschool years with flashbacks.

What I liked about Everbound was that as soon as you open the book, you are given a map of Everneath, which is awesome. This is a great way to show us where the characters are in the story.

Another thing that I liked about Everneath is Nikki's tether to Jack.
It's like a compass map telling them where to go, instead of just going to the Everneath  blind and clueless (even with Max and Cole).

Despite the love triangle (no more love squares in Everbound!) between Nikki, Cole, and Jack, it's great to know that both guys haven't given up on Nikki. We all know most YA heroes would end up hooking up with the next girl when the heroine is gone, but Cole is always waiting for that moment where Nikki could be all his, even though he knows that may never happen. I think it's sad that Cole genuinely does love Nikki even when Nikki doesn't believe him or lead him on or anything, though, which I think is smart. Cause if she did..well...I wouldn't like her anymore.

We finally get some backstory from Cole! Although, once again, it's very shortened.
And Jack... He's perfect. And by perfect I don't mean in the hot super male model perfect kind of way like in most paranormal YA books, because he's not only perfect looks-wise, but he's so damn sweet! Like, he's seriously every girl's dream, and I can see why Nikki would rather cut her arm off than give up on Jack. Because really, there's no topping Jack Caputo. I do hope that Nikki ends up staying with Jack and Cole can go with someone else, like Jules. Though, I'm not so sure about how everything about the Everneath, Everlings, Tunnels and all that jazz would make sense, I mean, look what Nikki told her dad! They thought she was crazy!

What I didn't like about Everbound was Everneath. I had always imagined that the Everneath was just a dark, cold, evil place. With Wanderers, Shades, and Sires feeding off your emotions, the Tunnels making you suffer until you die. Sort of like hell. But instead, it was the complete opposite.

But that last chapter. That last chapter was so jaw dropping. It was like a "Oh shit" jaw dropping moment because so many things happened that I never thought would.. So, when will the next book will be coming out? I'm ready for it!


Conclusion:
Fans of Everneath will defintely love Everbound. I would recommend this book for it has a lot of Greek myths and romance and action and adventure! And Jack. And Cole. And more Jack and Cole. You will not regret reading Everbound if you truly enjoyed Everneath.
I would like to say I loved this book, even though at first, I couldn't get into the first few pages of the story, everything then started to acclerate with action and suspense.
Everbound deserves 4.7/5.

No comments:

Post a Comment