Review: Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Book: Everneath (Everneath #1)
By: Brodi Ashton
Publisher: HarperCollins / Balzer + Bray

Publication Date: January 24, 2012

Description: Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she’s returned—to her old life, her family, her friends—before being 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 months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the one person she loves more than anything. But there’s a problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who first enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he’ll do whatever it takes to bring her back- this time as his queen.
As Nikki’s time grows short and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she’s 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...

My Thoughts: Everneath was a wonderful view into the Persephone myth. It portrayed love and life and heartbreak in a very intriguing manner.

We begin the book following Nikki Beckett's century long stay  in the Everneath feeding her emotions to an Everliving named Cole. Due to her overwhelming ability to survive the Feed,  she is invited to remain in the Everneath with Cole as his queen, but due to the love she has for her boyfriend Jack (the man who initially caused the despair that made her head to the Everneath to begin with), she refuses Cole choosing to instead return to the mortal world. That choice, however, comes with a price. She can only return for 6 months, and at the conclusion of the 6 months, must return to the Everneath, and be placed in the Tunnels--a place where she will be fed off of for the rest of her life.

As you can imagine, a century long stay should mean all her friends have died, but time moves differently in the Everneath so she's only been missing for a short time. Nonetheless, she is changed, aged, and has lost many emotions. She doesn't quite fit in anymore and all her classmates seem to believe she has been gone off and hooked on drugs. She seems to be fighting a losing battle, a factor only reaffirmed when she finds out that Cole has followed her and is doing everything in his power to bring her back before she can find love again, and before she can be lost to the Tunnels for good.

I enjoyed this book. I like seeing the growth in Nikki, although she annoys me at times. It all makes sense though. Jack is the sweetest guy imaginable, but I cant tell you too much about him or It may be spoilery. Just know that I love him!!! Cole is a tortured man who I want to love, but can't. He just need to learn right from wrong in my opinion and grow up. I do love his bad boy image though. (Bad Boys are always my weakness. Shame.)

This book explains the true power of love and how it can anchor you in all times of turmoil. I would suggest it to hopeless romantics, those who love stories about myth and ancient lore, and those who love stories that describe the afterlife. 4 Stars

Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Book: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer
By: Michelle Hodkin
Published: September 27, 2011
Published by: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

Description: Mara Dyer doesn’t think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.


It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can’t remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.

There is.

She doesn’t believe that after everything she’s been through, she can fall in love.

She’s wrong.

My Thoughts: I went on a Trip to the Dominican Republic Last week and brought many books with me. (Immigration definitely annoyed me on my return home trip when they pulled all of my books out of my suitcase to check between the pages for anything illegal. Bending a few covers and pages in the process. *tear* I mean come on. Is it that strange to bring books on vacation. Geez! Annnd, can you be a little more delicate with the books. Anyone who brings 7 books on a week long vacation obviously has an obsession. Respect it!) This is the first of my beach side reads and might I say, how could I have ignored this book for so long. I feel like a fool. It was great and scary and weird and all around wonderful.

In the beginning we meet Mara, a teenager who has no idea what happened to her and why she is in the hospital. She soon learns that her friends are dead....and the reason behind it is one that haunts her to her very core. Due to the PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) Mara is a little....off. She hallucinates and cant quite focus, endangering her life over and over again. Hocking's writing brings you inside the book and makes you feel exactly what Mara feels. You won't know what's going on or how. For some reason, this book brought back memories of the recent movie Black Swan where you weren't quite sure what was real and what wasn't and everything seemed out to get her but still wasn't. I felt so bad for her, but also confused, and even a little psycho myself. What happened, why, and why do weird things keep happening when she's alone.

We soon learn that Mara is very special. She has gifts (or curses, depending on how you look at it) which cause her most dangerous thoughts to miraculously play out. We're not quite sure how or why, but it's certainly interesting. Soon, we meet Noah, an equally interesting guy with a few secrets of his own. Secrets that may just help Mara, or get him killed. Regardless, a bond grows that makes my heart ache and hope build in my chest for Mara and Noah to work. You'll just have to read to find out what happens. Beware, the ending leaves you at a cliff, and makes you feel a little sad, and confused. That's all the hint you get.

I would recommend this book to people who like reading about books with people with sixth senses, mental disabilities, and people who are generally misunderstood. It's a wonderful book that will make you really feel and understand. 5 stars.

Review: Chosen by P.C and Kristin Cast

Book: Chosen (House of Night #3)
By: P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast
Publisher: St. Martins Griffin
Publication Date: March 24, 2008

Description: Dark forces are at work at the House of Night and fledgling vampyre Zoey Redbird’s adventures at the school take a mysterious turn.  Those who appear to be friends are turning out to be enemies.  And oddly enough, sworn enemies are also turning into friends.  So begins the gripping third installment of this “highly addictive series” (Romantic Times), in which Zoey’s mettle will be tested like never before.  Her best friend, Stevie Rae, is undead and struggling to maintain a grip on her humanity. Zoey doesn’t have a clue how to help her, but she does know that anything she and Stevie Rae discover must be kept secret from everyone else at the House of Night, where trust has become a rare commodity.  Speaking of rare: Zoey finds herself in the very unexpected and rare position of having three boyfriends. Mix a little bloodlust into the equation and the situation has the potential to spell social disaster.  Just when it seems things couldn’t get any tougher, vampyres start turning up dead. Really dead. It looks like the People of Faith, and Zoey’s horrid step-father in particular, are tired of living side-by-side with vampyres.  But, as Zoey and her friends so often find out, how things appear rarely reflects the truth…

My Thoughts: This is a short review because of course this is a super long series. I'm not sure If I'll even continue to write them. I'm kind of liking the series. It's okay. I mean I get annoyed more and more at the "teen talk," and Zoey's decisions, and the way she seems to know exactly what to do at every second of every day. I also get annoyed when I constantly hear the same things over and over again. I mean, they seem to "remind you" of things you know already like multiple times in one book. Like, seriously, my mind's not that slow. I can remember basic things. Nonetheless, I like the stories and will continue to read the series (even if I dont review every book.) 3.5 stars.