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… (Goodreads summary)
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A lovely retelling of the Persephone myth, author Brodi Ashton puts her own modern spin on the story of the young, innocent goddess who becomes Queen of the Underworld. In Ashton’s re-imagined myth, the Underworld is known as the Everneath – home of the immortal Everliving – which thrives on human emotional energy. After experiencing an extreme amount of heartbreak in a short span of time, seventeen-year-old Nikki Beckett turns to the one person who promises to take all her pain away – Cole, an Everliving. Little does she know much much her decision, made in the heat of an emotional moment, will cost her.
After surviving a century of the “Feed” in the Everneath, and for the most part mentally intact, Nikki refuses Cole’s offer to remain with him and become an Everliving. She is repulsed by the idea of subjecting someone else to the Feed ,preying upon their emotions and destroying who they are piece by piece. Instead, she chooses to return home to her family and to Jack – the boy whose face kept her from losing herself all those years. However, her return is not permanent. The shades of Everneath have marked Nikki as their own, and her return to the Surface will only last six months before the shades claim her forever. Coming to grips with her inescapable fate, Nikki resolves to make the most of her time and to mend ties with her friends and family. If she’s leaving, she’s determined to do it on her own terms.
Nikki is such a broken character at the beginning of this book. Deprived of deeper emotions, alienated from her friends and family, her hardships and string of damaged relationships is ultimately her fault for choosing the Everneath over working through her issues. However, I couldn’t help but be completely sympathetic. How could she have known at sixteen that the consequences would be so far-reaching? She couldn’t have. Yet she takes complete responsibility for her actions without complaint and I found that admirable. Irrevocably changed by her experiences in the Everneath, Nikki is older, wiser, humble, more sensitive to the feelings of others and better understands the permanence of a rash decision. She knows she must leave her loved ones again, that her fate is unchangeable, but she’s determined to give her friends and family the space, the time and the healing they need to forgive her initial abandonment. Most importantly she hopes to give them a little more closure this time – to let them know how much she loves them – before her time on the surface is up.
The relationship between Jack & Nikki is really the crux of this novel. Their romance is built on years of close friendship and shared experiences, and finally took a romantic turn several months before Nikki is taken to Everneath. It’s not hard to see why Nikki fell for Jack. Easy-going, friendly, adorably flirtatious, even-minded and devastatingly handsome (so says Nikki), he is an optimistic and charismatic guy who people are drawn to. Their relationship is wonderfully developed and Ashton has done an excellent job of making their romance an organic progression from their already solid friendship to a passionate, genuine love. Nikki & Jack have such a wonderful contentment and familiarity with each other that’s refreshing to read. One of the things I loved most about Everneath was that Ashton switched between the past and the present, showing us Jack & Nikki as they are now, but also what they were like together before the Everneath. Between the heartache of the present and the romance of the past, Ashton paints the reader a lovely and heartbreaking picture of Jack & Nikki’s love, just how much they’ve lost… and how much they could stand to lose again.
Determined to keep them apart for reasons of his own is Cole. Characters who constantly live in the moral gray, or who even seem to have an absence of morality fascinate me. Cole fascinates me. An immortal, Cole does what he does to survive, completely oblivious or perhaps consciously indifferent to the human lives he rips apart in the process. After meeting Nikki several months before he steals her away he becomes fixated on her, and when he learns that she’s survived the Feed (what a winner, right?) he becomes obsessed with making her his for all eternity. Cole is such a wonderful enigma, his motivations and endgame a bit of a mystery. At times he seems almost likeable and incredibly human, and yet at others, dangerous and predatory. Over his character looms the constant, ever-burning question: does he genuinely care for Nikki? Can he really, truly love? Or for him, is it about control, about winning?
Though Everneath is an extremely well done retelling of Persephone myth and though I love the main characters and their relationships, sadly I didn’t find the story itself to be anything mind-blowing or incredibly original. In particular, several of the main plot points are almost completely identical to another book I’ve read this year, Lisa Mangum’s The Hourglass Door, which is also a book about immortal beings who feed on the emotional energy of humans. It’s uncanny how similar they are. Granted, the larger story of both books are completely different, but I just couldn’t get over the similarities enough to fall completely head over heels with Everneath.
Overall, Everneath is an enjoyable retelling of a beloved myth and a heartwarming, heartbreaking tale of forgiveness and the lengths to which one will go for love.
Author: Brodi Ashton
Title: Everneath
Series: Everneath (Book #1)
Published: January 24th 2012 by Balzer + Bray
Format: Hardcover, 370 pages; Kindle; Nook
Website: www.brodiashton.blogspot.com
Source: ARC provided by Me, My Shelf and I Book Tours
My rating: 
Happy Reading!
I haven’t read The Hourglass Door, so I won’t be bothered by the similarities. Right? Still so looking forward to reading this one. Really curious to see how the author pulls it all off.
Hey Jessie! If you haven’t read The Hourglass Door, I think you’ll really enjoy it. I think you’d enjoy it either way. Everneath IS a great book, I just couldn’t seem to get over that particular hang-up. The characters in this book are just excellent though; really, really good. And that’s usually what I find most important.
You’re right even though the story isn’t exactly stellar the way the author has written it is the main reason I enjoyed this one! If it hadn’t been written so well,I probably would have found a LOT of weak points in this book!
Yeah, it was really enjoyable despite a few negatives. The characters…seriously I loved them. Ashton does an excellent job at character development.
Oh, wow! I love how this sounds! Not only about the myth retelling, but specially about the part of Cole. I have much the same weakness as you do with morally grey characters: I like their progression, their dilemmas… I certainly find this triangle interesting, and have a strong feeling I’d be Team Cole, control and everything be damned.
However, the fact that it was so similar to the Hourglass does irk me. The possibility that the book might focus more heavily on Nikki’s life on earth and less on her relationship with Jack and Cole irks me as well. I think I’ll give this one a chance, when I go through my TBR.
That might mean a while, but still. Thank you so much for sharing!
Well, when you read it, you’ll have to let me know which team you fall under. I’m Team Jack, though I do find the possibility of Cole interesting. Glad I’m not Nikki… lol.
Have you read The Hourglass Door?
As for the ratio of life to boys, I thought for the most part that it was pretty boy-centric, so never fear. lol
Thanks so much for checking out my review Ron!
Oh, wow! I love how this sounds! Not only about the myth retelling, but specially about the part of Cole. dani cool review/ I <3 U
OoOh! Awesome review Dani! I’m so excited for this one I LOVE the Persephone myth and this one sounds fantastic. I love that the romance is well written I hate when it’s lacking or dull. Squeee so excited! 😀
Giselle
Xpresso Reads
The cover is gorgeous! This is on my to-read list. I haven’t read The Hourglass door yet but I heard that was good too.
They are both really good books, you should definitely pick up both if you have the chance
Thanks for stopping by!
I’ve been waiting forever for EVERNEATH to come out. Still waiting :P. I can’t wait to read it when it comes out in January. I love the idea of a retelling of the Persephone story b/c that’s one of the Greek mythologies that stayed with me over the years.
I love the idea of Nikki and Jack having a friendship before the relationship turns romantic. A lot of YA books have characters falling in love so fast, but here, I love the idea that it has built over time.
Ooh, it would be interesting if the antagonist does really love Nikki. It makes him more interesting.
I haven’t read The Hourglass Door so I won’t be making any comparisons! 😛
It’s a good one
And I also love the romances that start as longstanding friendships. I think they’re sweet, and a little more real somehow. Maybe because they know all your faults and love you anyway? Anyway, I’ve been thinking about it and I’m of the opinion that Cole may love her…. in his own twisted way. But I think he does actually care for her. But it’s hard to say for sure. Hope you get the chance to read it soon! 
YOU ARE LUCKY! Ever since I heard of this book I’ve wanted to read it. And thanks for the review. It just makes want to read more, though the “Feed” makes me take two steps back.
I know! I managed to finagle my way onto an ARC tour, so glad I got a chance to read it. The characters in this story make it worth the read, in my opinion. And yeah, the Feed isn’t too detailed, but you definitely get the sense that it’s not pleasant.
I looking forward to read it. The book sounds really good.
I also add The Hourglass Door to my TBR list to check it in the future, thanks. =D
Awesome review. I have been really looking forward to reading this book. (I just won an ARC of it so hopefully I can read it soon.)
I was thinking about reading this book recently. 4 stars is awesome, so I think I give it a chooice. thank you for the review!
I’m really looking forward to reading this one! It sounds great!
I LOVED this book! I don’t know why but this book stayed with me after I turned the last page for many days
I’m glad you loved it, and I love when I find a book like that… a book you simply cannot stop thinking about.
Thanks for dropping in!
I haven’t read The Hourglass Door so I don’t know about the similarities but it sounds great. As far as Everneath, I loved it. I really didn’t see much of anything I didn’t like about it. I also thought that going back & forth in time was great as it made this story different from most others. Thanks for giving us a great review.