Review: Everneath (Everneath #1) By: Brodi Ashton

Title: Everneath (Everneath #1)

Author: Brodi Ashton

Published:  January 24th, 2012

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars!

Goodreads Summary:

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath. Now she's returned--to her old life, her family, her boyfriend--before she's 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 precious months forgetting the Everneath and trying to reconnect with her boyfriend, Jack, the person most devastated by her disappearance--and the one person she loves more than anything. But there's just one problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who enticed her to the Everneath in the first place, has followed Nikki home. Cole wants to take over the throne in the underworld and is convinced Nikki is the key to making it happen. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back, this time as his queen.

As Nikki's time on the Surface draws to a close and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she is 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 queen.

Everneath is a captivating story of love, loss, and immortality from debut author Brodi Ashton.

My Thoughts:

I have to admit I was a little bit hesitant to read this one, the Persephone myth is a popular myth for authors to use, and I have really enjoyed The Goddess Test novels but, I wasn't sure that I would like another story from this myth but, I was completely wrong and Brodi Ashton's take on this myth was completely different and I completely enjoyed it. Everneath was full of mystery, intrigue, and of course an epic romance. 

Nikki Beckett has been in the Everneath for over a century, after making a misguided deal with an immortal Everliving Cole, who fed off her human emotions for the last century she is returning to the surface and her life after six months of being missing, going back to her old life is not as easy as she thought it was going to be. Cole has followed her home, trying to convince her to rule the underworld with him. Dealing with her family, her boyfriend Jack, and her best friend is not easy. She only has a few months on the surface until she is again claimed by the Everneath. Nikki's goal is to make sure each person she loves will be ok once she is gone but, Cole has other plans.

Nikki was a character that I felt for fr

om the very beginning of the book, she was emotionally damaged, her mother killed in a drunk driving crash. I totally understood her being drawn toward the Everlivings, they feed off human emotions, and the unhappy emotions are taken away first. Who wouldn't want to have those emotions taken away and pulling the happy emotions to the surface. Her love for her boyfriend Jack was what meant most to her and his face was what kept her going and forgetting herself completely during her century in the Everneath. I couldn't imagine going home and knowing that you were leaving everyone you loved behind permanently. But, she didn't just sit back and pity herself she began unraveling the mystery of the Everlivings and it was one my favorite parts of the book, finding out more about the myths and the mystery. 

Jack, Nikki's boyfriend was such a sweet guy. She was gone for six months and everyone thinks she was on drugs and just got back from rehab. Nikki is different now the real world is overwhelming her and she is having a hard time dealing with it. She spends her time  alone and doesn't really talk to anyone. but, after school she has been working on one of her school assignments and Jack takes this as an opportunity to spend time with Nikki even if they aren't talking to each other. I would think that most guys would move on and give up. Before Nikki, Jack was a ladies' man, I would think that he would go back to his old ways but, he didn't I could really feel how much he cared for Nikki, which just made me love him even more. 

Cole on the other hand was a different story. He was at time hard to figure out. He used and tricked Nikki into becoming his Forfeit and feeding off of her. But, had times it seemed like he did have feelings for Nikki, more than I thought was possible for an Everliving. I am really curious to see how everything plays out in the next book. 

Overall, this book had a little bit of everything. Mystery, romance, and myth. I really enjoyed how Ashton took the myth and changed it around, the idea's of the Everlivings I really enjoyed and the ending made me tear up just a little. Do you guys enjoy myth's in YA? Let me know in the comments!