PJV Quickie: I would like to preface this review with the fact that I really enjoyed this book. Ashton’s writing was compelling and her character portrayal was well done. Yet, because of some scenarios not lining up correctly I wasn’t as enchanted as I should have been if the plot would have been flushed out properly.

Review

Sucked into the Everneath for a century, even though only six months has passed on the surface, Nikki Beckett is given a second chance to say goodbye.  She had left things in quite a mess when she went below, but now on her return, things are even more upside down. Most people think that she was on a six month bender and those closest to her feel betrayed. There will be a lot reparations to be made, especially since she has to relearn how to feel – and when emotions do begin to come back to her she is faced with the realization that she might not want to return, no matter how tempting it might be to never feel again.

‘Everneath’ was an emotional rollercoaster. It tackled some hard topics; the loss of loved-ones and our wish to sometimes just have our feelings go away.  Nikki was a well-formed character and her transition from the beginning of the novel to the end was exceptionally crafted. I think Ashton focused on her three main characters: Cole, Nikki and Jack as the central masterpiece of the novel and their transition and plight. Personally, I think it might have been better served in a contemporary. Maybe a drug addiction instead of a myth based paranormal, because I think in the creation of the paranormal myth is where the book fell flat. Just some of the pieces didn’t come together.

The main process around the myth was the Feed, where the Everliving take their victims to the Everneath and feed on their energy for a century.  A recharge, so-to-speak. They are ruled by a Queen, dubbed colloquially as Persephone, but the Everliving, Cole refers to the Hades figure, not as Hades but as Osiris. This back and forth between the Egyptian myth and the Greek myth was highly confusing. Yes, both are Gods of the Underworld, or dead, but in ‘Everneath’ they are ruled over by a Queen, which is referred to as Persephone – which can change if a regime changes. Cole is determined to bring Nikki back to the ‘Everneath’ in hopes of one day taking the throne. All he ever refers to is Nikki becoming Persephone, so what happens to Osiris/Hades, because Cole seems to refer to him as one being. There didn’t seem to be as much explanation as I would have liked in the book.

Then, on top of myth problems, there were also little inconsistencies, like the fact that the Feed happened only once a century, but they still were sending, I guess sacrifices down to the Everneath. Were they for Persephone? Did she feed off them like the Everlivings did? Because they were cocooned together for a century. Did Persephone cocoon up with her sacrifices? And wouldn’t that get boring after awhile? I would lose my brain. I definitely wouldn’t have been able to function back in real life, much less go back to high school after a year long brain suck (but they explain that Nikki is different so this isn’t really the problem).  Then Jack and her family just accept that she’s all messed up and don’t press her for answers. My parents and boyfriend would have been peppering me with a million questions. Just something didn’t click with me as True. Yes, I know paranormal, but things have to make sense in my brain and this just didn’t. Pair that with a badly crafted ending, (I didn’t get how they thought that destroying what they meant to destroy would solve Nikki’s problems) meant strictly to appeal to the sobbing masses, ‘Everneath’ entertained but didn’t “wow”.

Recommendations:

Recommended for teens with a taste for emotional dramas. This is a good paranormal transitional since it focuses on the emotional instead of the paranormal elements.

Like This, Like That:

‘Shattered Souls’ by Mary Lindsey
‘Wither (Chemical Garden)‘ by Lauren DeStefano