Date Read: June 29 - July 7 2016
Date Released: July 25th 2016
Publisher: Harper Voyager Australia
Source: Review copy via publisher
Genre: Fantasy
My Rating:
Synopsis:
"Destined to destroy empires Mia Covere is only ten years old when she is given her first lesson in death.
Six years later, the child raised in the shadows takes her first steps towards keeping the promise she made on the day that she lost everything.
But the chance to strike against such powerful enemies will be fleeting, so if she is to have her revenge, Mia must become a weapon without equal. She must prove herself against the deadliest of friends and enemies, and survive the tutelage of murderers, liars and demons at the heart of a murder cult.
The Red Church is no Hogwarts, but Mia is no ordinary student. The shadows loves her. And they drink her fear."
Six years later, the child raised in the shadows takes her first steps towards keeping the promise she made on the day that she lost everything.
But the chance to strike against such powerful enemies will be fleeting, so if she is to have her revenge, Mia must become a weapon without equal. She must prove herself against the deadliest of friends and enemies, and survive the tutelage of murderers, liars and demons at the heart of a murder cult.
The Red Church is no Hogwarts, but Mia is no ordinary student. The shadows loves her. And they drink her fear."
---
Never flinch. Never fear. Never forget.
That is the mantra to live by. The words that are the driving force behind Mia Corvere’s story. I’m sorry Jay, but when I finished, I can’t say I didn’t flinch or fear throughout the story. But damn this was unforgettable.
Told by a narrator who knew Mia during her lifetime, Nevernight chronicles the first part of Mia’s life as she enters the Red Church to become an assassin and exact revenge on those that wronged her.
Holy sheeeet I adored Mia. She is sassy and witty and completely unforgiving. She gives no shits but I found that at the heart of everything she did, she still had a moral compass. It was definitely my favourite aspect of her growth throughout the book – the Red Church has Mia participating in and witnessing questionable deaths in the name of the goddess of the night. She has to wade through what’s right and wrong, and what she’s willing to do to achieve her goals. The internal conflict underlying her actions was so relatable.
There are a lot of secondary characters and my goodness does Kristoff write them so vividly that each person sticks after just a read. There are the other assassins-in-training like Mia, each with their own agenda, the teachers who we got some glimpses into and I reckon still have their stories to be told. Everybody has a purpose in the story, adding layers, creating a depth to the plot that instils fear and made me flinch at each of their actions. Like hello Shahiid Solis what even with that HACK HACK ELBOW BLOOD. Mother Drusilla, kindly grandmother or…? Then that Speaker and Weaver WHAT IS THIS SORCERY (legit). Did I mention there’s a shadow cat too? The not-cat is hilarious and so loveable.
Got to hand it to the Kristoff. He can write some hot sexy times wow *fans self* Good thing I wasn’t in public because I would be blushing like mad. To say he leaves one hot and bothered is an understatement. In the same way that the bloodshed in Nevernight is unforgiving, so is the sex. Y’all gotta appreciate a good sex scene. NO SHAME. As Jay pointed out in his tweets (go read the thread, it’s so important), why should it be a problem that his book has explicit sex scenes in it when it has gore and murder?
On the topic of murder, danggggg all them guts and gore. There’s spillage of intestines, flying limbs, flayed backs and blood, sooooo much blood the characters swim in it – literally! Kristoff writes this all in its gory detail, not sparing a moment so that the reader can feel the weight of Nevernight in full force. There’s lots of knife chucking, blade twirling, and slice and dice and hack and oops sorry was that your skin *cackles* your loss you were in the way, nah jokes I really wanted to kill you HAH.
I really cannot wait to get my hands on a finished copy so that I can see the map because the world-building is fantastic and I want to see where things are in relation to how my mind imagined them. The setting is based off what I think is ancient Rome with tweaks here and there, mixed with other races and a lot of magic! My favourite part was the way supernatural elements were interspersed like mythical creatures popping up, creeptastic blood rituals and flaming swords. For some reason they all felt so natural yet managed to surprise me too.
The plot is so intricate and wonderfully constructed. There are heaps of books with revenge at its core out there. But it’s all about the way it’s done. The reasons, the next steps. There is no telling; Kristoff shows us the reasons why Mia wants revenge. Shows us in heart wrenching full force slam in your face grief. And with each memory and flashback, more questions are raised about the ruling force behind Godsgrave. Kristoff being Kristoff there’s surprises at every turn and the ending knocked me off my feet.
Obviously I cried guys. I was punched in the gut and then Kristoff reached his darned hand into my chest and yanked my still beating heart out, all the blood pooling beneath my collapsed body. This book had me hating, it filled me with hope, it made me love, it left me feeling betrayed. Nevernight is dark, sexy, delicious and utterly unforgiving. As you can see, I flinched, I feared, but I will never forget.
Honestly, no amount of gushing will Nevernight justice so just go buy the book and devour it in all its glory. Then come join me in the foetal position so we can weep together.
Never flinch. Never fear. Never forget.
That is the mantra to live by. The words that are the driving force behind Mia Corvere’s story. I’m sorry Jay, but when I finished, I can’t say I didn’t flinch or fear throughout the story. But damn this was unforgettable.
Told by a narrator who knew Mia during her lifetime, Nevernight chronicles the first part of Mia’s life as she enters the Red Church to become an assassin and exact revenge on those that wronged her.
Holy sheeeet I adored Mia. She is sassy and witty and completely unforgiving. She gives no shits but I found that at the heart of everything she did, she still had a moral compass. It was definitely my favourite aspect of her growth throughout the book – the Red Church has Mia participating in and witnessing questionable deaths in the name of the goddess of the night. She has to wade through what’s right and wrong, and what she’s willing to do to achieve her goals. The internal conflict underlying her actions was so relatable.
There are a lot of secondary characters and my goodness does Kristoff write them so vividly that each person sticks after just a read. There are the other assassins-in-training like Mia, each with their own agenda, the teachers who we got some glimpses into and I reckon still have their stories to be told. Everybody has a purpose in the story, adding layers, creating a depth to the plot that instils fear and made me flinch at each of their actions. Like hello Shahiid Solis what even with that HACK HACK ELBOW BLOOD. Mother Drusilla, kindly grandmother or…? Then that Speaker and Weaver WHAT IS THIS SORCERY (legit). Did I mention there’s a shadow cat too? The not-cat is hilarious and so loveable.
Got to hand it to the Kristoff. He can write some hot sexy times wow *fans self* Good thing I wasn’t in public because I would be blushing like mad. To say he leaves one hot and bothered is an understatement. In the same way that the bloodshed in Nevernight is unforgiving, so is the sex. Y’all gotta appreciate a good sex scene. NO SHAME. As Jay pointed out in his tweets (go read the thread, it’s so important), why should it be a problem that his book has explicit sex scenes in it when it has gore and murder?
On the topic of murder, danggggg all them guts and gore. There’s spillage of intestines, flying limbs, flayed backs and blood, sooooo much blood the characters swim in it – literally! Kristoff writes this all in its gory detail, not sparing a moment so that the reader can feel the weight of Nevernight in full force. There’s lots of knife chucking, blade twirling, and slice and dice and hack and oops sorry was that your skin *cackles* your loss you were in the way, nah jokes I really wanted to kill you HAH.
I really cannot wait to get my hands on a finished copy so that I can see the map because the world-building is fantastic and I want to see where things are in relation to how my mind imagined them. The setting is based off what I think is ancient Rome with tweaks here and there, mixed with other races and a lot of magic! My favourite part was the way supernatural elements were interspersed like mythical creatures popping up, creeptastic blood rituals and flaming swords. For some reason they all felt so natural yet managed to surprise me too.
The plot is so intricate and wonderfully constructed. There are heaps of books with revenge at its core out there. But it’s all about the way it’s done. The reasons, the next steps. There is no telling; Kristoff shows us the reasons why Mia wants revenge. Shows us in heart wrenching full force slam in your face grief. And with each memory and flashback, more questions are raised about the ruling force behind Godsgrave. Kristoff being Kristoff there’s surprises at every turn and the ending knocked me off my feet.
Obviously I cried guys. I was punched in the gut and then Kristoff reached his darned hand into my chest and yanked my still beating heart out, all the blood pooling beneath my collapsed body. This book had me hating, it filled me with hope, it made me love, it left me feeling betrayed. Nevernight is dark, sexy, delicious and utterly unforgiving. As you can see, I flinched, I feared, but I will never forget.
Honestly, no amount of gushing will Nevernight justice so just go buy the book and devour it in all its glory. Then come join me in the foetal position so we can weep together.
Great review! I finished reading it in a shopping centre food court and had to subtly wipe away tears.
ReplyDeleteMy review is at http://readinglark.blogspot.com.au/2016/08/book-review-nevernight.html