Book Review: Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

* I am reviewing these books which I was gifted for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own. *

Title: Nevernight
Author: Jay Kristoff 

Publisher: Harper Voyager

Source: Netgalley

(Amazon|Goodreads)

Book Summary:

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.

Book Review:OK, so this was a journey!

A lot of people have been really loving this book lately so even though I decided to read this like four years ago but gave up before the first chapter I decided to give it a go (again).

So I and Nevernight went on a journey through the month that I started this book. I went through phases of picking up the book and just putting it down and I don't think that I was ever fully invested in the story. I listened to a lot of it on audiobook as well so this may be why as I have been reading physically for a lot of the month.

I think the audiobook definitely did help with a lot of things that I would have disliked with this book, namely the footnotes. The narrator doesn't tell you what is the footnotes so you just hear them as part of the story which was helpful. I did have an e-copy through and when I was reading physically I did skip the footnotes. Maybe I am just lazy but he could have put them in the writing. Were they needed?

Again I think the audiobook helped with the writing because when it is being read to you, you don't notice the flowery language and such and I just drink it in. I also didn't really mind the writing but I can see why.

One of the reasons why I didn't like it last time was because it was quite graphic and as an ace person, the sex scenes were a little bit uncomfortable especially because Mia was 16 but they were well-written. Also, it was quite graphic in terms of violence. I have now read A Game Of Thrones so I think I'm good. Again, the fight scenes were quite good which considering they were a biggish part of the story is a good thing.

I also liked the plot, it did take me a while to get into, I like because I've been reading so much fantasy lately, but again once I was there, I was in for the ride. I did times also feel it was a little bit dense and I think this made it drag for me. There were also some plot twists that I did not expect so they made it more interesting.

I think the main thing that I enjoyed was the characters. I thought that Mia was so interesting and had so many layers that Jay Kristoff revealed even in the later parts of the story. I also loved Tric, who again was a really complex and multi-layered character. Jay Kristoff, in general, has been criticised for his POCs in books so please check that out in this series so please seek out own voices reviewers. I definitely saw this when I was reading the book. I also really liked Mr Kindly as a character and offered a vulnerability that you don't often see in fantasy characters.

The Verdict:

Nevernight was a highly engaging read that will satisfy the blood-lust for any fantasy reader.

Have you read Nevernight? If so did you like it? Let me know in the comments below.