YA Book Review: Everbound by Brodi Ashton

Release Date: 22 January 2013
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Format: eBook
Source: Own

Goodreads description:

Nikki Beckett could only watch as her boyfriend, Jack, sacrificed himself to save her, taking her place in the Tunnels of the Everneath for eternity — a debt that should’ve been hers. She’s living a borrowed life, and she doesn’t know what to do with the guilt. And every night Jack appears in her dreams, lost and confused and wasting away.

Desperate for answers, Nikki turns to Cole, the immortal bad boy who wants to make her his queen — and the one person least likely to help. But his heart has been touched by everything about Nikki, and he agrees to assist her in the only way he can: by taking her to the Everneath himself.

Nikki and Cole descend into the Everneath, only to discover that their journey will be more difficult than they’d anticipated — and more deadly. But Nikki vows to stop at nothing to save Jack — even if it means making an incredible sacrifice of her own.

My Thoughts...


It's been a long time since I read the first book in this trilogy, so I did have to return to my original review for a bit of a recap.  Everbound picks up fairly quickly after Everneath's ending with little recap, which I often appreciate but can be disconcerting if it's been awhile.  Jack is in the Tunnels in Nikki's place and she is bound and determined to find a way to get him out by whatever means necessary.

While I remember quite enjoying the first book, there was something about this one that actually made me like it almost better.  There was a decent bit of action and adventure as Nikki attempts and then actually makes it to the Everneath in her quest to rescue Jack.  As his anchor in the real world, she slowly feels him start to slip away and she knows she's running out of time.  She is desperate enough to recruit Cole's help, even though she's knows that he has no reason to want to return Jack, her love, and she can't fully trust him.  Even so, they take the journey into the depths together at much risk.

I still really like Nikki as a main character.  She is a determined young woman with her mind and heart set on a goal.  Where in the first book it took some time for her to grow on me, I genuinely enjoyed reading from her perspective this time through.  I missed seeing more of Jack, who is absent for obvious reasons, and Cole proved even trickier than I had previously imagined.

The ending of the book was a twist that I possibly should have but didn't see coming and it has me genuinely excited to see what Ms. Ashton has in store for the trilogy conclusion, which will thankfully be released this month!  I think that teen fans of good mythology-based series such as Aimee Carter's Goddess Test series or Josephine Angelini's Starcrossed series will find another enjoyable read in this one.