Title: Nevernight
Author: Jay Kristoff
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Release Date: August 11, 2016
In a land where three suns almost never set, a fledgling killer joins a school of assassins, seeking vengeance against the powers who destroyed her family.
Daughter of an executed traitor, Mia Corvere is barely able to escape her father’s failed rebellion with her life. Alone and friendless, she hides in a city built from the bones of a dead god, hunted by the Senate and her father’s former comrades. But her gift for speaking with the shadows leads her to the door of a retired killer, and a future she never imagined.
Now, Mia is apprenticed to the deadliest flock of assassins in the entire Republic—the Red Church. If she bests her fellow students in contests of steel, poison and the subtle arts, she’ll be inducted among the Blades of the Lady of Blessed Murder, and one step closer to the vengeance she desires. But a killer is loose within the Church’s halls, the bloody secrets of Mia’s past return to haunt her, and a plot to bring down the entire congregation is unfolding in the shadows she so loves.
Will she even survive to initiation, let alone have her revenge?
And then enter Nevernight.
You see, I have a lot of friends who adore Jay Kristoff, his Stormdancer series, and EVEN MORE friends who can't get enough of Illuminae. Me? Well... I have yet to read a Jay Kristoff novel. So there was a lot of curiosity with this one - one of the most hyped books of 2016, and an author that so many people are a huge fan of. If you happen to read my blog regularly, you should know by now that I'm one of those reviewers who always, always checks out the hype.
So. What did I think?
Heh. Read on. (You didn't think I was going to summarize what I thought in one sentence, did you??? Come oonnnnn!)
First things first (and I noticed that practically all bloggers say the same) - the writing of Nevernight is a wee bit intense. Intense in the sense that it's just a bit too flowery, a bit too melodramatic, and a tad too wordy. And hey, this is coming from someone who loves Cassandra Clare's writing! I honestly couldn't help but feel overwhelmed at the beginning - there's just too many metaphors! So, was the writing a DNF factor for me? Nope. The writing was indeed jarring at first, but as I read on, I got used to it. It became part of the magic.
Um and okay how brilliant was the beginning? That whole compare-and-contrast that basically set up the entire book? Amazing, wasn't it? (As much as I would like to talk about it, I can't. Spoilerrrrr!)
Also, Nevernight is one of those YA books that is not quite like the YA that we're used to - this book is DARK. There are a whole bunch of graphic scenes, violent scenes, but don't worry - they're not out of place, and they're not there just to shock you. I do think that the dark overtones worked - I mean come on, how can a book be about an assassin if it's all fun and games?
Mia. Mia Mia Mia. I was prepared not to like our main character just because she clearly has a chip on her shoulder (I mean she did watch her father die in front of her) and because she's a freaking assassin but hey guess what? She's not that different from you and me, and she makes do with what she has. Sooo I did end up liking her, and rooting for her. Also, it took a while for the plot to unfold, but damn - once it did... the twists and turns are enough to take your breath away!
All in all, I do understand why some people didn't like Nevernight, but hey, between you and me, give the book a shot. Read it until you get the writing, and then allow the story to engulf you. You won't regret it.
Rating: 4 Stars
