Review: Evertrue by Brodi Ashton

Evertrue

Author: Brodi Ashton

Release: January 21st 2014

Genre: Mythology, Supernatural, YA

#3 in the Everneath trilogy

Series: Everneath (#1), Everbound (#2)

Plot:

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.

Goodreads | B&N

Review:

Honestly, I don't know quite what to think of this book. I basically ran through this within a few hours and I think I haven't quite digested it yet. I have a lot of problems with Evertrue, but mostly, I did enjoy it after all — it was a far cry from the greatness that was the first two books, but I'll give it three stars nevertheless. I might change my rating, but for now... 

So, my main issue is Jack. I've never been his biggest fan, so far he was a very uninteresting and flat character, simply outshone by Cole the whole time, but in this installment, he really started to stand out. And not in a good way. Constantly showing violent, yes almost abusive behavior towards basically everything, punching walls, destroying and damaging things that didn't belong to him, threatening people (mostly Cole), ... I mean, I have never seen why Jack and Nikki would want to be together, but now, after this, I'm seeing it even less. What does Nikki love so much about this reckless, brutal douchebag? I don't know, man.

Then, we have the fact that Nikki and Jack are going around and telling people, sorta, about their Everneath problem, like his brother, this Professor Spears dude, Jules, ... and they all kind of just believe them. How very convenient. If someone got up in my face about immortals living in some place and them wanting me to their queen and stealing my heart or something, I would not just be like, "Really? How cool!" and help them do the most crazy things...

We also have the thing where Nikki wants to destroy the whole thing altogether, and that Professor tells them it's basically impossible and stuff, but at the end it all conveniently works out without that much trouble. We already had this in the second installment, where everything was made out to be this big bad place that nobody's ever crossed before and they do it like it's a walk in the park. This was, again, the case in Evertrue.

And, of course, that ending. Ugh. Tears did fall out of my eyes. She should have just ended up with Cole and sent Jack packing. Shoo, off you go, I just realized how awesome my Cole boy here is, I want him in my life forever, and you're a dick, sorry. But no, Ashton did not give me that, instead I got an ending that was very unsatisfying.

But well. Like I said, I did enjoy it quite a lot, running through it in mere hours, and Cole really did shine again in this novel. Even losing his memory doesn't change anything about how he's such an extremely charismatic character, still compelx and interesting — My love for him is endless. He would have deserved the happiest of happy endings.

Plot was so-so. In retrospect, a lot of it seemed unnecessary hither-and-thither and a lot of standing still, but I was quite engaged, so I'm not really complaining.

So. Am I satisfied with the conclusion to this trilogy? No. Definitely not. I am happy that Nikki did realize how good of a person Cole is and how much he really means to her in the end, but somehow, that wasn't quite enough, you know? In comparison to the first two installments, which were really great despite the heavy romance elements, this one leaked a bit too much sappy out of its pages, which was another minus for me. Ah well, nothing I can do about it. I can just leave this behind me now.