[Review] Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Everneath by Brodi Ashton
Everneath #1
Published July 24th, 2012 
Balzer + Bray
Young Adult Paranormal Fantasy

Premise:
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.

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Review

My thoughts:

Warning: This review contains a lot of sarcasm and a bit more than the usual amount of swear words. If you're easily offended by that kind of language maybe you should stay clear of this review. 

This was so not what I was expecting. This series is really popular and I've had the first book on my shelf for what seems like forever, so maybe I've been building up my expectations regarding this book for way too long.

The main problem I had while reading this book was that I spent at least half the time bored out of my mind because nothing was happening and for the life of me I couldn't come up with a single reason for me to care about the characters. The whole ambiance is really depressing and I had to force myself to keep reading in multiple occasions so it just felt like a chore to me. 

The world in this story is supposed to be a mixture between Greek and Egyptian mythology surrounding the Underworld or the Underneath as it's called here. It's kind of complicated and I don't fully understand how everything correlates to those ancient myths, because we only get explanations at the beginning and at the end of the book in a way that feels more like info-dump than true world development. Here's the basics of what I'm able to make out of it: The Underneath is kind of a parallel world where time goes much faster than in the real world, and where the immortal creatures live, the Everliving. But these "people" have found that the only way for them to obtain immortality is by feeding off of the emotions of the mortals. So, from time to time, the Everlivings have to take a Forfeit, which is like a human sacrifice of some sort. Most of the Forfeits die in the process, but a few of them manage to survive having lost most of themselves to the Feed, only if you are absurdly especial, you can manage to escape the Feed with your memories and some essential parts of yourself intact.  The survivors are given 6 months to return to the Surface (the real-contemporary world). When the 6 months are up they are taken back to the Tunnels, which is a part of the Underneath that acts kind of like a power station, where the humans are considered batteries of emotion for the Everlivings.

Nikki, the protagonist of this story, agreed to be taken to the Underneath so she could be free of the pain of her mother's death and the book starts right when she's being released from the Feed for her 6 months on the Surface. She is of course one of those ridiculously especial people who escapes the whole thing a little emotionally battered but otherwise still herself. This rare quality makes her really desirable, and the Everliving who took her as Forfeit, Cole, now wants her to become an Everliving and live with him in the Everneath. But Nikki, despite being emotionally drained, hasn't been able to let go of her former boyfriend, Jack, in all the time she spent in the Everneath, and she's determined to see him again before the Tunnels claim her back. 

First of all, I couldn't believe that after six months of being "away", Nikki's father watched her daughter come home and didn't even asked for an explanation about where she'd been all that time. Even if she left in the middle of a fight between them, you would think her father would've looked for her like a mad man and, of course, he would be relieved of having her back and unharmed, but at least you would think he would be pissed that she left without telling anyone, because that's just how parenting works. But no, he didn't even asked where she'd gone, which turned out to be really convenient since Nikki had no way of explaining it without getting herself committed to a mental health facility or lying her butt off. He is the major, for fuck sake! Someone in his position could have had the town turned inside out while looking for his daughter and at least, for the sake of appearances it's what everyone would've expected of him. But no, of course there's no mention of him actually ever looking for her. But now that she's back he's concerned about what others might think of him, so he makes her do community service because that looks good. WHAT? How does that make any sense!?

Now... Having Nikki drained of any emotion for half the book was a mixture between being completely and utterly depressed and trying to relate to a door at the same time. Yeah, painful and pointless. I could at least tell that she wasn't a terrible human being and was actually trying to do the right thing, but that is not nearly enough to make me care for her. 

Also, the book is written so the story goes back and forth between the present and the past which only confused me further. I think that if this was written in chronological order, maybe I would have had an easier time caring for the characters, but as it was, so convoluted and chopped up, I could barely tell if the plot was actually moving forward or not.

Cole, the Everliving that was trying to get Nikki to go with him to the Everneath, was the most annoying, self-serving bastard. Every girl wants him because he's a sexy musician and always looks so cool... Am I supposed to find sexy that he threatens to harm/kill Nikki's family if she doesn't do what he wants? Isn't it hot that he stalks her everywhere she goes? Am I supposed to believe he has feelings for her when he tries to screw her over every chance he gets so he can have what he wants? I hated him, and every time there was a hint at something happening between him and Nikki I was like: "If she actually falls for him, I'm SO done with this shit!"

Jack, Nikki's boyfriend was an okay dude, kind and patient but nothing especial, so I didn't fall for him either. Which left me with absolutely no characters to actually cheer for.

Overall, this was a huge disappointment. I believe this story had a lot of potential to be great, and that's what kept me reading until the end, but even if the concepts were unique and interesting ones, the execution didn't do justice to the ideas and the end result wasn't anywhere near what could have been. I respect that other people have found this book worth their time, but I would have rather spend my time reading something else. I can't say I'd recommend it, because it's just not my thing and I'm not going to continue this series.

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About the author

Brodi Ashton writes Young Adult novels. She lives for chocolate covered cinnamon bears. She loves Diet Coke. Her debut book EVERNEATH (the first in a trilogy) came out January 24, 2012 with Balzer and Bray (HarperCollins). The sequel EVERBOUND came out January 22, 2013 and the final installment, EVERTRUE, came out January of 2014. All three are available in paperback.

[Review] Dreamless by Josephine Angelini

Dreamless by Josephine Angelini
Starcrossed #1
Published May 29th, 2012
HarperTeen
Young Adult Paranormal Fantasy

Premise:

Can true love be forgotten?

As the only scion who can descend into the Underworld, Helen Hamilton has been given a nearly impossible task. By night she wanders through Hades, trying to stop the endless cycle of revenge that has cursed her family. By day she struggles to overcome the fatigue that is rapidly eroding her sanity. Without Lucas by her side, Helen is not sure she has the strength to go on.

Just as Helen is pushed to her breaking point, a mysterious new Scion comes to her rescue. Funny and brave, Orion shields her from the dangers of the Underworld. But time is running out. A ruthless foe plots against them, and the Furies' cry for blood is growing louder.

As the ancient Greek world collides with the mortal one, Helen's sheltered life on Nantucket descends into chaos. But the hardest task of all will be forgetting Lucas Delos.

Josephine Angelini's compelling saga becomes ever more intricate and spellbinding as an unforgettable love triangle emerges and the eternal cycle of revenge intensifies. Eagerly awaited, this sequel to the internationally bestselling Starcrossed delivers a gritty, action-packed love story that exceeds all expectations.

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Review

My thoughts:

This book was better than the first one in some aspects but there's still some issues that prevent me from giving it the max rating. 

I'm really loving this take on Greek mythology, it's so complex and rich with details that I'm completely fascinated by the world.

Helen has grown a bit on me, but I still struggled with the first half of this book because of all of her mopping around feeling sorry for herself. In this book, Helen has to go in a quest to the Underworld, because she's the only one who can free the Scions from the furies. But the Underworld is taking a toll on her and she's getting sicker every day from lack of proper rest. It doesn't really help that most of the people in her life are acting like assholes towards her.

I hated the way Jason was always on Helen's case. I really liked him in the first book, he was really supportive of her before and seemed like an overall nice guy. But in Dreamless, he blamed her for everything that was happening like she even had a choice in the matter. He blamed her for Claire being a part of their world even though he clearly couldn't leave the mortal girl alone. 

If I'm being completely honest, I hated the way most of the Delos family was behaving toward Helen. They were really patronizing, always pretending they were doing more than they were actually doing, so they could judge Helen and tell her she wasn't trying hard enough to stay on task because she allowed herself to get distracted by Lucas. And Lucas is showing his darkest side in this book, which of course is driving Helen crazy. 

I don't really know if I felt like everyone was being kind of cruel towards Helen just because I was reading from her point of view and the girl wouldn't stop complaining about it or if it was actually that they were being awful to her. I suppose it doesn't help that her own mother was a complete bitch and the one time she showed up was when everything had already gone to hell and just so she could complain about it. I don't know, I feel like the author is trying really hard to make me feel sorry for Helen and I don't like that. 

Thankfully not everything is so dark. At least there's Orion and the new friendship between Hector and Helen. I know they were good for her in a time when she was feeling utterly alone, but it irritated me to no end how needy Helen was throughout this book. She was always needing someone to come save her and tell her how awesome she was in order to keep going, she was so dependent on everyone else that it was a miracle that she didn't curl up in a ball and die the first moment she was by herself.

The characters are clearly not the forte of this series, but the world is so mesmerizing that I still want to keep reading.  I like the scenery of the Underworld and I would like to see this book turn into a movie just because it would be awesome to see the never ending beach and the lake tilted down on a screen. I also liked that we get to see a few actual gods and goddesses this book although they are the most confusing characters of them all.

The plot is also a strong point for this book. It's really complicated with all the prophecies that pull the characters in different directions, all the obstacles on their ways and all the twists, turns and crossroads enriching the story, making the whole series worth reading just so you can find out if they will manage to come out on top despite everything that has gone terribly wrong.

The pace is also very suitable for this book. There's always more than one thing going on and that makes it so you can't really let go of the book, because you're always kind of in a tense moment. Like Helen would be complaining about her loneliness and tiredness, and then boom! She would get attacked out of nowhere, and then the would-be dull moment is turned into an action scene. 

The ending to this book was pretty fantastic and now it seems that all hell is going to break loose. What's coming next is really exciting and I can't wait to jump into the next book!

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About the author

Josephine Angelini is a Massachusetts native and the youngest of eight siblings. She graduated from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in theater, with a focus on the classics. She now lives in Los Angeles with her husband.

[Review] Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini

Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini
Starcrossed #1
Published May 31st, 2011
HarperTeen
Young Adult Paranormal Fantasy

Premise:How do you defy destiny?Helen Hamilton has spent her entire sixteen years trying to hide how different she is—no easy task on an island as small and sheltered as Nantucket. And it's getting harder. Nightmares of a desperate desert journey have Helen waking parched, only to find her sheets damaged by dirt and dust. At school she's haunted by hallucinations of three women weeping tears of blood . . . and when Helen first crosses paths with Lucas Delos, she has no way of knowing they're destined to play the leading roles in a tragedy the Fates insist on repeating throughout history.As Helen unlocks the secrets of her ancestry, she realizes that some myths are more than just legend. But even demigod powers might not be enough to defy the forces that are both drawing her and Lucas together—and trying to tear them apart.

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Review

My thoughts:

I thought I would enjoy this book more than I actually did. It wasn't bad by any means, but it was not exactly what I was expecting. I think I've been reading a lot of books lately that have an awesome bad-ass main character who is not afraid of being herself and Helen didn't fit in that category for me, so I felt kind of disappointed. 

The writing and pace were pretty good. It's written in third person but it has a feel like it's Helen's point of view for the most part. Regarding the pace, it wasn't that action-packed per se, but it had a lot of huge moments of discovery and revelations and that kept it fast paced for the most part. It was slow at the beginning and at first I didn't understand what the hell I was reading, but the more you read, the more sense it makes. I really enjoyed it and although it took me a few days to get through it, I kept thinking about it when I wasn't reading.

Helen, the main character, has always know she was different, weird even, but she did her best to hide it and fly under the radar. But everything she has done to make herself blend in goes down the drain when the Delos family arrives at the small island where she lives. Because, she can't stand the sight of them. She hates them and doesn't really know why since she has never met them before. Soon she discovers they are the missing piece she needs to complete the puzzle of her life, they will help understand who she is and why she is that way. Together they will embark themselves in a dangerous journey in which they'll find out their roles in an ancient prophecy destined to repeat itself.

For the first half of the book I didn't care much about Helen, I found her to be too whinny and kind of a coward to be honest. Always worried of what the other people would think of her. I grew tired of her hiding her talents, her beauty and everything she was so she could be accepted, also it was kind of Mary Sue to me the fact that people hated her on that grounds. She was way too perfect but insecure about herself and that made me mad, I wanted to scream at her "quit whining about being perfect!". The second half of the book was more bearable because she was distracted with other matter to be too concerned about being beautiful and better than everyone else.

I really liked Lucas, he was sweet and caring and protective of the ones he loved. The fact that he was able to tell when someone was lying was something to think about. I don't think I could be with someone who would expect me to tell the truth every single time. I couldn't stand to hurt his feelings over and over again without the privilege of those little white lies I tell everyday, like "how do you think I look with this completely hideous tie?" "do you think I've gained weight?" Nobody needs to hear the truth all the time. That also made me think of how painful would be for him to just simply go around living life knowing every time someone told a lie to him and having that feeling of betrayal simmering inside him. I would go insane. I think his character has a lot of possibilities to consider and an immense potential for greatness. 

The family dynamics in this book are kind of weird. For one we have Helen's family which is tiny, being just her and her dad. Then we have the Delos family which is just madness like it tends to be when a family so big. But I liked how the whole mythology was woven into the family itself. 

I really liked the mythological side of the book. The Greek mythology behind the story infused the book with all of its best elements. The intrigue and the plot twists, betrayals and different prophecies kept the story far too interesting to put the book down just because I didn't like the main character. 

There's insta love, ladies and gentlemen. I'm sorry to announce this, but the author manages to sell insta-love to us by making it a huge part of the mythology surrounding the characters. I don't know yet if I will forgive her that dirty trick. I still enjoyed the romance in those tiny moments they were together getting to know each other a bit, even though it had me rolling my eyes sometimes at how quickly their feeling were developing. 

There were other points of the story that had me rolling my eyes because they weren't believable enough. I won't say exactly which bits for the sake of avoiding spoilers, but some of them had to do with the way Claire and Matt acted around Helen. 

There is a lot I still don't understand but I guess it all will make sense when I finish all the book, which I think I'll do, but not for the time being. Just as an example of what's to come, there's the mystery of Daphne... I hated her from the get go, and I don't trust her. I don't know what will happen in the next books, but I have this feeling that she will be forced to reveal her true face. 

It was good enough, it had a very complicated and rich mythological base, a huge cast of characters that managed to be unique even thought here were a lot of them, a lot of intrigue and suspense and secrets. It was a fun read, but it's not the best mythological fiction I've ever read. I'd still recommend it though, not in any hurry but it deserves a chance. 

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About the author

Josephine Angelini is a Massachusetts native and the youngest of eight siblings. She graduated from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in theater, with a focus on the classics. She now lives in Los Angeles with her husband.

[Review] My Ex From Hell by Tellulah Darling

Title: My Ex From Hell

Author: Tellulah Darling

Series: The Blooming Goddess Trilogy (Book #1)

Publisher: Te Da Media

Expected publication date: April 1st, 2013.

Source: I receive an e-copy on a read-to-review basis from NetGalley

Blurb from Goodreads: Sixteen-year-old Sophie Bloom wishes she’d been taught the following:
a) Bad boy’s presence (TrOuBlE) + teen girl’s brain (DraMa) = TrAuMa (Highly unstable and very volatile.)
b) The Genus Greekulum Godissimus is notable for three traits: 1) awesome abilities, 2) grudges, and 3) hook-ups, break-ups, and in-fighting that puts cable to shame.
Prior to the Halloween dance, Sophie figures her worst problems involve adolescent theatrics, bitchy yoga girls, and being on probation at her boarding school for mouthy behaviour. Then she meets bad boy Kai and gets the kiss that rocks her world.
Literally.
This breath stealing lip lock reawakens Sophie’s true identity; Persephone, Goddess of Spring. She’s key to saving humanity in the war between the Underworld and Olympus, target numero uno of Hades and Zeus, and totally screwed.
Plus there’s also the little issue that Sophie’s last memory as Persephone was just before someone tried to murder her.
Big picture: master her powers, get her memories back, defeat Persephone’s would be assassin, and save the world. Also, sneak into the Underworld to retrieve stolen property, battle the minions of Hades and Zeus, outwit psycho nymphs, slay a dragon, rescue a classmate, keep from getting her butt expelled from the one place designed to keep her safe…
… and stop kissing Kai, Prince of the Underworld.
My Ex From Hell is a romantic comedy/Greek mythology smackdown. Romeo and Juliet had it easy.

Review

My Thoughts: Being the first book on a series it makes a great first impression. I loved it from the very first page. The story is narrated from Sophie's point of view and it is awesome, because everything she thinks seem so authentic that you can actually say: "That's a teenage girl". I really like the witty dialogue and the snarky comments and the way that Sophie's mind works. 
I loved Hannah, the sidekick and best friend, who is beautiful and smart at the same time even if she's just human, she can kick some serious butts. 
Kai, well, he's infuriating! I just wanna shake him hard and yell at him for being such a jackass and then just kiss him and then slap him in the face (I'm not making any sense, am I?). 
About Theo, this mysterious best friend who has a lot of secrets and a wicked sense of humor... I really like this character, but that's mostly because I feel like he's hiding something and has all this mysterious vibe. We don't really get to know him in this book, but I'm hoping we'll get to the bottom of his personality in the next books. 
Bethany... she's a b*tch, a beautiful, powerful, self-centered b*tch. If I were Sophie I would have kill her as soon as I knew I was able to. Creepy much? Well, she totally deserves it!
I love the roll of mythology in the story and I've always been a huge fan of Greek mythology. I've read a lot of books which central theme is some Greek myth, but this one was somehow special. I really liked the way the information was treated and I loved that there wasn't info dump moments or anything. 
I love the dialog because it always felt right. It was authentic and never forced. Also, I really liked the titles for every chapter, they said so much about what's in them and most of them are hilarious. 
I have a lot fun reading this book, sometimes I even laughed out loud and I'm not usually like that while reading a book, but this one has some majorly funny stuff going on. However, that this book was funny doesn't mean that it was less deep.

I would recommend it to: Young Adult genre lovers, who likes Greek mythology and whoever who had enjoyed The Goddess Test or Percy Jackson series. 

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Quotes:

“You think I'm a freak?" I asked carefully. 
"Only sexually. Maybe physically. Definitely mentally."

"Stranger things have happened, Neo. And it was Halloween"
"It was, Morpheus. But since I wasn't abducted, thrown into a shipping container, ans dent on my way to the Baltics to be sold into sex slavery, highly unlikely."
Hannah gave me a look of ultimate disbelief. "Right. That rack of yours would command such a good price"
"Try my highly prized virginity"
"I dunno. You've done a lot of biking."

"Fairies?" I muttered sacasrtically, painfully draggi8ng myself back over the fence.
"No such thing"
"Typical. Sparkly winged beings, sorry. Fire throwing ghost, no problem."

"My real name is Prometheus"
"And I am Bond, James Bond"

About the author (from her Goodreads page):

Tellulah Darling
noun
1. YA Novelist
2. Alter ego of professional screenwriter and instructor
3. Sassy minx

Geeks out over: cool tech.
Squees for: great storytelling.
Delights in: fabulous conversation.
Writes about: where love meets comedy, flavored with pop culture. Awkwardness ensues.