Evertrue by Brodi Ashton
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Series: Everneath #3
Pages: Hardcover, 368 pages
Genre: Young Adult
Release Date: January 21, 2014
Summary:
Now that Nikki has rescued Jack, all she wants is to be with him and graduate high school. But Cole tricked Nikki into feeding off him, and she’s begun the process of turning into an Everliving herself... which means she must feed on a Forfeit soon — or die.
Terrified for her survival, Nikki and Jack begin a desperate attempt to reverse the process using any means possible. Even Cole, who they expected to fight them at every turn, has become an unlikely ally — but how long can it last? Nikki needs to feed on Cole to survive, Cole needs Nikki to gain the throne in the Everneath, Jack needs Nikki because she is everything to him — and together, they must travel back to the Underworld to undo Nikki’s fate and make her mortal once more. But Cole isn’t the only one with plans for Nikki: the Queen has not forgotten Nikki’s treachery, and she wants her destroyed for good. Will Nikki be forced to spend eternity in the Underworld, or does she have what it takes to bring down the Everneath once and for all?
In this stunning conclusion to the Everneath trilogy, Brodi Ashton evokes the resiliency of the human spirit and the indomitable power of true love.
Rating:
Review:
Sometimes a book pisses you off because of that one certain event you can’t seem to wrap your head around. Other times, it’s the characters that make the book a complete drag for you. But unfortunately, Evertrue has both of these factors going on for it simultaneously, with varying degrees of suck.
To be honest, I’ve never been much of a fan of this series. Admittedly, the second book had me super intrigued because of its cliffhanger and decent plot, so I had hopes for the last book. If only I knew how disappointed I was going to be!
Evertrue pretty much starts from where Everbound left off. Nikki, now without a heart, is very close to becoming an Everliving and unsurprisingly, is as annoyingly whiny and despicably selfish as ever. Jack is back and has turned into a big buffoon whose largeness we’re reminded of in every other chapter with unnecessary alacrity. Their luuurvveee is pathetic and clingy and stupid like it was in the first book. It’s only made more unbearable by the fact that they’re joined by the hip in this book at all times. Cole, who was our saving grace in other books, who was the only interesting and layered character left with his diabolical nature and unsuspecting plans, is irrevocably damaged and (view spoiler) in this final edition. If it isn’t obvious by now, I really really despise this book with a burning passion.
Here's a list of the things I hate in Evertrue
1) The plot: This series had a nice mythology going for it. Until I realized it was only there to taunt me and never to be explored. I thought Everneath had the potential. Everbound touched the mere boundaries of what-could-be and had me convinced that the third book was going to be “it”. But it wasn’t meant to be. I don’t really know what I was expecting but it definitely wasn’t a show down of Nikki blowing up everything. And with such ease. It was too convenient and rushed and a big disappointing slap on the face.
2) The writing style: Nikki’s monologue has always been gloomy and full of self-hatred and pity. She’s always been a weak character and I think Ashton was trying to make her look brave by her ridiculous, spur-of-the-moment plans, but it ended up making her look like a pathetic wuss. Anyway, more on her character flaws later. I was peeved off from the beginning but due to different reasons. For the first one-third portion of the book I was cross because nothing was happening. Nikki was growing progressively weak because of some mother-bird-feeding-her-babies analogy applicable to Everlivings which was honestly just bizarre and irrelevant. There was a lot of time wasted in her trying to find Cole and demand answers while everything else remotely normal in a person’s life was put to hold for her and Jack’s character specifically. Her father was oddly never concerned. Jack’s mother was out of the picture and apparently fine with Jack playing bodyguard for the girl who had actually ruined his life since she didn’t make any appearance all throughout. Jack was always with Nikki. Like every single passing moment of every day. I can’t even begin to imagine how they tolerated each other’s presence. I’m convinced that their love is an unhealthy obsession and they need help. But, I digress.
For the next major part of the book, I was fuming mad because of Jack and Nikki’s incompetence at everything. Their inability to find answers tested my patience to the limits and I might have pulled out a few strands of my hair because of the passiveness of the story. Ashton even tried her hand at humor but it all seemed forced and wrong. In fact, Nikki’s attempt at cracking a joke had me cringing. It was terrible bearing up with her foolish remarks when she was nervous. But even that wasn’t the worst of it all. The worst part, the absolutely worst of the worst part was what Ashton did to Cole. I was livid when Nikki and Jack found Cole like that. It was painful to watch that version of Cole; like being stabbed in the eyes with a needle painful. As for the last 20% of the book, I was hopeless and still in a tizzy. Cole turned into an altruist out of love for Nikki and it was so unlike Cole that his sacrifice had me bloody outraged. Just thinking about it again is getting me so riled up that I feel like killing Nikki and Jack inside my head over and over and over and over again. And then some.
3) The characters: I went off on a tangent and ranted a lot, didn’t I? *sigh* Well, the characters are going to get me all steamed up again but I’m going to keep it low. So..Nikki is a selfish, self-absorbed, delusional, brooding, good for nothing numbskull. Jack is an oaf with anger issues who really needs to indulge in a hobby other than punching trees and needs to get far, far away from Nikki because she is nothing but bad news. Cole was a jackass whose obsession with Nikki is still incomprehensible to me but he was the only compelling character in the entire series and look what happened to him. Arrgh! Urge.to.kill.growing.stronger.
*tries to breathe*
...
.....
.......
*takes in a deep breath*
My second 1 star rating of 2014 goes to this book.
As for Nikki..
Your neck. My hands.
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