Everneath [Hardcover]

Brodi Ashton (Author)

Book Description

Release date: January 24, 2012 | Series: Everneath

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.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

After a six-month absence, teenager Nikki Beckett has returned home, although no one could possibly understand under what circumstances. She has spent the past 100 years in the Everneath, a world where immortals, called the Everliving, go to replenish their strength by feeding on the energy of humans. Nikki, anchored by the memory of her boyfriend Jack, miraculously survived the feed. Now she has six final months at home to say her good-byes before returning to the Tunnels, a hellish extension of the Everneath. Combining elements of the Persephone myth and the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice, the story alternates between the events that led Nikki to agree to the feed and her return. As the only person ever to survive, she is urged by Cole, the Everliving who initially took her away, to seize control of the Everneath (with him, of course). Will she? This first volume of a planned trilogy covers familiar territory (angsty heroine, adoring boyfriend, delicious bad boy) yet offers a promising start. Grades 9-12. --Kara Dean

Review

“Ashton’s debut, is complex and intriguing. Drawing inspiration from such myths as Osiris, Orpheus, and Persephone, it explores the nature of loss and longing and what it means to be alive.” (Publishers Weekly)

“I was pulled under by this bittersweet, beautiful retelling of the Persephone myth. Ashton’s lovely storytelling and strong-on-her-own-terms main character set this one apart. Wonderful!” (Ally Condie, author of the MATCHED trilogy)

“The powerful emotions, moving and painful rebuilding of strained relationships, and star-crossed love story is sure to resonate with teen readers.” (School Library Journal)

“The author brings a fresh, innovative concept to young adult fiction with well-developed characters and a fantastic plot line .... Libraries are advised to buy multiple copies-this one will fly off the shelves.” (Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) (Starred Review))

“Enthralling and suspenseful, EVERNEATH is pure indulgent escapism!” (Becca Fitzpatrick, New York Times bestselling author of HUSH, HUSH and CRESCENDO)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Balzer + Bray; First Edition edition (January 24, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062071130
• ISBN-13: 978-0062071132
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (277 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #285,237 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

First-time author Brodi Ashton received a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Utah and a master's degree in international relations from the London School of Economics. Brodi has an active following on her blog, which can be found at www.brodisashton.blogspot.com. She lives in Utah with her family.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 51 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, a unique new YA series! November 30, 2011

By Heather D. Gallay VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

I'm a big Greek mythology buff, so I was intrigued when I heard about Everneath, the first book in a new YA series that was a modern re-telling of the Persephone tale. I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of execution, but I hoped it would be a book worth reading.

It was.

Everneath is the story of Nikki "Becks" Beckett, a teenage girl who has been missing for six months, only to mysteriously reappear one day in her hometown -- without explanation. Speculation of Nikki's whereabouts abound, with the general consensus being that she was off somewhere doing drugs. What Nikki hasn't told anyone is that in the six months she was gone, she'd actually spent an entire century in the Everneath, another dimension of sorts, underground, which is dominion to a race of immortals called the Everliving.

In order to stave off their own mortality, the Everlivings need to "feed" on a human's life force every one-hundred of our years. These humans, called Forfeits, don't usually survive the century-long process -- but Nikki did, and that makes her special. Her Everliving host, Cole, wants her to join him and become an Everliving herself, but Nikki refuses because she doesn't want to Feed on humans that way Cole fed on her. However, unless she follows Cole and becomes an immortal, she's doomed to the Tunnels, where she will be a part of what keeps the Everneath running -- until she ceases to exist. She has six months back in her own world, before the Shades will come for her and drag her back to the Tunnels. And all Nikki wants is time to say goodbye.

Everneath is a wrenching, imaginative tale, told in the first-person POV of Nikki, a broken young woman who somehow still manages to mine an inner-strength. The chronology shifts between the present (via a countdown of Nikki's time left on the Surface) and the past (specifically, the events leading up to her ending up as a Forfeit). It's done smoothly, without confusion, and helps us get to know Nikki as she was before, as well as the Nikki she is now.

There will undoubtedly be a heated debate by fans over the two male leads -- Team Jack vs Team Cole -- and the fact that I was actually torn between them proves that this strange triangle is more than just plot device: it actually makes sense for the story. And despite the fact that the author seems to have made it very clear who Nikki's choice is (and likely always will be), I sense that there's a lot more to come for these characters before that ultimate decision is finalized.

I loved Everneath, and was even moved to tears by the ending. I can wait to read the next installment, and highly, enthusiastically recommend this book to anyone wanting to experience something fresh in YA literature.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A modern day Greek Myth: unique spin and beautifully written, wonderful characters June 30, 2012

By Christina (Ensconced in YA) TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book as it seemed like people either liked or disliked it. Let's just say I was definitely pleasantly surprised. I rate this book 4.5 stars.

Everneath by Brodi Ashton is a play on the mythological story of Persephone and Hades as well as Orpheus and Eurydice. We are introduced to the protagonist Nikki, who is already currently in the Underworld with Cole, a sinister yet intriguing antagonist. There is one thing that keeps her sane during the 100 years that she is bound, and it is thoughts of her first love, Jack. Only 6 months pass in the upper world, and she returns to Earth for 6 months before her ultimate fate of feeding the energy of the Underworld until she is used up. Jack and Nikki frantically try to find a "cure" and discover secrets along the way.

I'll put this right out there. I absolutely loved this book. Perhaps part of it is that I love Greek mythology to start with, but that said, I thought this book was well done. The characters were very well developed and I really got Nikki's relationships with both Cole and Jack. I understood her progression from despair to hope and the symbolism to drug use with what Cole represented. The prose was very clear and many times poignant, and I blazed through the entire book in a few hours, never losing interest. I was in tears at one point. For me, that's not a usual response. I enjoyed how the book was told in both present day and past day, and thought that this method of storytelling worked very well for the story that was to be told.

So why did I rate this 4.5 stars since it's obvious that I loved it? There were a few things that I saw that for me would propel it even to a higher level. I wish that I had even more details of Nikki's past with Jack. Jack seems like such an interesting character, but in the beginning he's painted as the player guy who sleeps with everyone, which is such a dichotomy from the guy he is with Nikki. There's a reason he does that and I want to know what it is. Second, I'm not sure if this is left for the second book, but there is a huge misunderstanding between Jack and Nikki which leads to her going to the Underworld in the first place. I guess we can chalk up her emotional state to being a teenager, but I wasn't quite convinced. And lastly, I felt that the ending could have been done a little better-- in fact, if it had ended two chapters before, it would have been a better ending I believe.

That said, it's obvious that I loved this book even with its flaws, and I highly recommend it to any lover of YA fiction.

Ensconced in YA blog: [...]

32 of 38 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Coming back from the underworld December 14, 2011

By schmettajames VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Everneath isn't a bad book, but it just didn't work for me. It's the story of a teenage girl named Nikki Beckett who's just spent the last 100 years in an underworld called the Everneath, where an immortal being named Cole fed off her energy. After the 100 years are over, she returns to the real world, where she's only been gone for a few months. She doesn't tell anyone what really happened to her, and everyone seems to think she ran away and was on drugs. She tries to pick up the pieces of her forgotten life, all the while knowing that she only has six months before the Everneath will claim her forever.

It's a cool premise, and I thought that the author did some interesting things with the idea of the underworld. There are some obvious parallels with Greek mythology (the myths of Persephone and Orpheus and Eurydice are mentioned) and a little Egyptian mythology is thrown into the mix as well. But that premise quickly devolves into the standard for YA paranormal books: a love triangle. Maybe it's just fatigue for this trope on my part, but the love triangle didn't do anything for me. The heroine is pretty ordinary and maybe even a little dull, but immortal Cole and her ex-boyfriend Jack are both mad for her. And that just didn't work for me. However, despite my issues with the love triangle aspect of the book, I still found Everneath very readable and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone who enjoys love triangles more than I do.