Friday, April 26, 2013

Julia Reviews Everbound by Brodi Ashton


Title/Author: Everboundby Brodi Ashton
Publisher/Year Published: January 2013 by Balzer and Bray
How I got this book:The library
Why I read this book: The first book was good, and I wanted to see what would happen next.
Rating: 3.5 stars

Review: Everbound, the second in the Everneath series, is a book with its pros and its cons. The series delves into a modern day twist on Greek, and really all, mythology. This series is heavily inspired by the Greeks though.

First a summary (spoilers for Everneath if you haven't read that...):
Nikki was supposed to get sucked into the tunnels at the end of the last book, as her time on Earth had run out (long story), but Jack, her long time friend recently turned boyfriend, jumps into the Shades instead of her, taking her place in what is tantamount to being buried alive in Hell.

Pleasant thought that.

Anyway we start this book out with Nikki trying furtively to figure out a way into the Everneath so she can rescue Jack. Her plan? Trick Cole into giving up a part of himself so she can enter the Everneath through the Shop-and-Go. One problem. She doesn't know where Cole is.

The first part of the book is pretty slow and centers around her grief for losing Jack as well as the whole town's grief over losing their caricature of the small town hero. (more on that later). When Cole finally does show up, more passably boring things happen yadda yadda ... then they are in the Everneath, which really is the most interesting part.

I mean really. I could care less about what is going on at the Surface when there is an awesome world to discover in the Everneath, one that has a time limit because Jack can only last so long in the tunnels. It's a great setup!

This is where we run into one of my major nitpicks: the world building aka lack of a use of descriptive language. I noticed that I had a hard time picturing the Everneath. It wasn't until Nikki was describing one of the maze rings that I realized the problem. Here is the sentence that stuck me:
The sight was so unearthly, it took my breath away. 
And then no description of what she was seeing follows. The plot just moves forward. How am I supposed to get a sense of setting when you describe a scene as "unearthly"? I have only known Earth from experience, so explaining what she is seeing would be greatly appreciated.

A minor nitpick I have is character development. I think our main leads (Nikki and Cole) are pretty fleshed out and not cardboard. Jack, especially in this book, slips more into a cliche then a character to me. The secondary characters are more like devices to move the plot then anything else. Pawns for Cole and Nikki to use... but that said, I really like the plot.

The plot was what saved this for me. It is such a interesting twist on classical mythos. And just like the myths, bad things happen to our main characters and through the journey, shit happens you can't escape from.

Which brings me to Cole. Oh, Cole. In my first review, I fondly referred to him as "a big fat tool." He is probably my favorite character just because he is so well developed. In this book, he reminded me so much of how I picture Hades. We spend a lot of time with Cole through this book. I don't want to give too much away, so I am not going to talk about the ending. However, I really wanted to and thus there is the spoilers and the spoiler tag with my thoughts on my Goodreads review.

Do I recommend this book? If you liked the first one, sure. It's more of the same along those lines. Though frustratingly written at time, the plot is engaging and I read the book in a day, so it's an easier read.

A serious question for you Cole lovers. I am really interested in hearing why you think that he is better for Nikki then Jack? Is it just because he is more interesting? Because I can understand that. But I just don't see him as relationship material... in any way. At all.

I am interested to see where this series takes us next.

13 comments:

  1. I'm actually a Jack lover, but I still love Cole, I'm just okay with him not ending up with Nikki. Have you read the novella from Cole's pov? That really went a long way into making me love Cole.

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    1. No, I didn't read the novella. I don't dislike Cole as a character. I think he is my favorite in the series actually, because he is so freaking interesting! My problem is when people say he HAS to be with Nikki. I just can't see that. He is so destructive to and for her. When people tell me it's because he loves her or he doesn't know any better, well it just like sends off warning signs for me, you know? Like in real life, I'd be running as far as possible from this guy or seriously, seriously hate him for the end of this book.

      Maybe I should check out that novella :)

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  2. Can I take a moment to ask "WHY the cover?" I like the color-scheme...and that's where the goodness ends. Why is this girl wearing a prom dress and standing on a cloud? A very stormy cloud (clearly). And what's going on with her right arm? I.Just.Can't.

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    1. Yeah I agree. The first cover I liked (until I looked at her arm.. it looks so... not real). But whereas that one looked original and new, this looks old and done before, because it has been... by book one.

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  3. I've been debating reading this one as I didn't love the 1st in the series....hard for me to imagine becoming a Cole lover though...Jack was part of what I did like about the first book!

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    1. Jack is the goal of this book and less a character if that makes any sense. This book is more of the same vein as the first though so if you didnt love that one and are not curious then I would just move on. Lots of books to read, not a lot of time :)

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  4. I really want to know what happens next. That cliffhanger at the end really bothered me! I'm so torn between Jack and Cole! How could Cole do that? Why was Jack so bleh in this book?! Oh well... I still love the whole Greek mythology thing. I'm really getting intrested in it again.

    www.booknerdsjourney.blogspot.com

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    Replies
    1. I know! I was totally blindsided. I'll continue on because I want to know what happens.

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  5. What a great interview and interesting premise.
    I like that it sounds unique and different.
    And perhaps like it has an element of mystery.

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  6. Le tengo ganas a este libro desde hace tiempo.
    Thanks!!

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  7. I really didn't like Cole-I had a somewhat similar reaction to you as you related in your spoiler section but at the end of the day, I always knew I didn't like Cole, vastly preferring Jack.

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    Replies
    1. I feel like I felt the same way. I know I stared to like him, but never really... it's so confusing. I just get so confused to those who think he makes a better match for Nikki then, well, anyone else in the world!

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