Review: Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Everneath by Brodi Ashton
Published: January 24th, 2012; HarperCollins
370 Pages

From Goodreads:
Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath. Now she's returned--to her old life, her family, her boyfriend--before she's banished back to the underworld . . . this time forever. She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these precious months forgetting the Everneath and trying to reconnect with her boyfriend, Jack, the person most devastated by her disappearance--and the one person she loves more than anything. But there's just one problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who enticed her to the Everneath in the first place, has followed Nikki home. Cole wants to take over the throne in the underworld and is convinced Nikki is the key to making it happen. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back, this time as his queen.

As Nikki's time on the Surface draws to a close and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she is forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's queen.

My Rating:
5 stars

My Thoughts:

Let me put it frankly; This is a great book. Whether it was the awesome characters, the mythology, or the amazing plot, I had no trouble finishing Everneath.

                Nikki has made some bad choices, which have changed her life drastically. While she could have just curled into a ball and sulked for the 6 months she had left, she didn't, she got out and started mending the broken relationships she left behind. Yes, some of that mending was pretty painful to read (her interactions with Jack start off slow , and they left me wanting more every time), but you get to see Nikki's growth as she goes from an empty shell back to an actual human being. And the story didn't just center around the love triangle between Nikki, Jack, and Cole - Nikki also had to repair her relationships with her father, little brother, and her best friend, all while trying to get over the grief of her mother's death. She was a heroine with depth, so I wasn't annoyed by any of the choices she made. An amazing main character is always the first step to a great story, and was just that kind of character.

                 Jack was another great character in the story. Jack, Nikki's (sort of) ex-boyfriend who has changed since Nikki left. She thinks he hates her, but as the story progresses, you slowly learn more and more about the adorable relationship Jack and Nikki had before she left. Jack seemed like a jerk at the beginning of the story, what with him being described as a jock and a ladies' man. I didn't think my opinion of him would change so much, since he just seemed like one big cliché when he was first introduced. You eventually get to see that Jack never did anything to hurt Nikki - it was just a series of misunderstandings that led her astray. By the end of the book I loved Jack. Yes, he still was a bit of a cliché, but in a good way. He grew along with Nikki, and you could tell their relationship was built on something other than mutual lust.

                Surprisingly, I was a fan of Cole too (I usually only like one of the main male characters). Brodi Ashton did an amazing job of making Cole an antagonist while also being a sympathetic character - even though he wasn't always nice, there were still times I wished he was real so I could hug him.

                The backdrop of mythology that tied this whole story together was another reason I loved this book. I've always found the Persephone myth interesting, so I loved how it was tied into Everneath. It wasn't a verbatim reproduction of the myth - Ashton took it and made it her own.

                I won't go into detail about the end of the book, but I'll just say I cannot wait to read the next book in the series.

                Overall, Everneath was a fantastic book. Brodi Ashton created characters that were real, and a story that made sense and had actual depth. I will be reading the rest of the Everneath series as soon as I can get my hands on it (and I suggest you do too).  

Review: Arise by Tara Hudson

Arise by Tara Hudson
Published: June 5th, 2012; HarperTeen
404 Pages

From Goodreads:
New Orleans
Saint Louis
Number One Cemetery
A night there can change a life . . . or a death.

Increasingly worried that dark spirits will carry out their threats and hurt the people she cares for most, Amelia is ready to try anything to protect them. And for his own very different reasons, Joshua has come to this cemetery at midnight to join her in a powerful ritual.

Both know that once Amelia steps inside the Voodoo circle and the beautiful girl from the Conjure Cafe begins the ceremony, everything will change.

Tara Hudson's enthralling sequel to "Hereafter" escalates the danger and excitement, bringing a new dimension to her already mesmerizing story of a haunted love.

My Rating:
4 stars

My Thoughts:

After reading Hereafter, I was somewhat disappointed in the outcome. The first book in a series is supposed to pull you into a rollercoaster ride that leaves you wanting more once it's finally over. I didn't really feel that after reading Hereafter, so I was hopeful that Arise wouldn't fall completely flat.

                I can't say that Arise completely made up for what Hereafter was lacking, but it was a bit better. I liked the setting of New Orleans, since it seemed to be more detailed than Hudson's description of Amelia's hometown in Oklahoma. The original setting was pretty stagnant for me, so a change of scenery was welcome, no matter how random it was.

                Gabrielle was also a breath of fresh air from Amelia's helplessness, I just didn't like how the author sort of shoved her into the story. It was too sudden for Gabrielle and Amelia to go from strangers to friends in all of a day. She was kind of a pro and a con to me; she was the right character, just not at the right time in the story.

                My main problem with both Arise and Hereafter is that they have little to no depth. The story is original, but the characters and the plot were flat to me. The first half of the book was Amelia worrying about leaving Joshua so he wouldn't get hurt by the evil demons that were following her (which, frankly, didn't seem all that evil). When she finally "left" it was for a day, which she spent moping over how much she missed Joshua. Joshua and Amelia win my award for sappiest couple; I would welcome a bit more dysfunction.

                 I really hoped Amelia would grow a bit more in Arise, but she was still fumbling around blindly. Her story could really use some more direction, instead of Amelia simply reacting to situations.

                Don't get me wrong, I liked this book, but it just has some hiccups that made it harder to finish. The series could use some more continuity with the antagonist, since I have a feeling Hudson is going to recycle the same thing that happened in the first two books (but I would be incredibly happy if she didn't!). The demons haven't really been explained enough for them to be menacing - they're just creepy looking people who are supposed to be evil.

I'll probably give something away if I go on, so I'll end this review here. Let me just say that Arise was definitely an improvement over Hereafter, but the series still has a long way to go before it'll be one of my favorites. Tara Hudson wins on originality and her writing, but the flimsy plot and flat characters made it hard to finish. I gave it four stars, because the good outweighed the bad, and I was able to finish it. If you read Hereafter and liked it, I would definitely recommend reading Arise.

Review: Hereafter by Tara Hudson

Hereafter by Tara Hudson
Published: June 7th, 2011; HarperTeen
404 pages

From Goodreads:
Can there truly be love after death?

Drifting in the dark waters of a mysterious river, the only thing Amelia knows for sure is that she's dead. With no recollection of her past life--or her actual death--she's trapped alone in a nightmarish existence. All of this changes when she tries to rescue a boy, Joshua, from drowning in her river. As a ghost, she can do nothing but "will" him to live. Yet in an unforgettable moment of connection, she helps him survive.

Amelia and Joshua grow ever closer as they begin to uncover the strange circumstances of her death and the secrets of the dark river that held her captive for so long. But even while they struggle to keep their bond hidden from the living world, a frightening spirit named Eli is doing everything in his power to destroy their newfound happiness and drag Amelia back into the ghost world . . . forever.

Thrilling and evocative, with moments of pure pleasure, "Hereafter" is a sensation you won't want to miss.

My Rating:
3 stars

My Thoughts:

Hereafter is the story of Amelia, a ghost that wanders the streets of a small town  and has no recollection of her past, other than that she drowned. Everything changes for her when she rescues a boy from drowning, and her whole world is turned upside down.

                I was first drawn to this story because it's plot sounded so unique - I haven't read many books where the main character is a ghost with no memory of her past. I read it with high expectations, and while I can't say it completely let me down, I wasn't totally enthralled by it either.

                The book started off well enough, with Amelia rescuing a handsome boy named Joshua - who can see her -  from drowning in the river where she died - she doesn't pull him out of the water or anything, she just wills him to live. That seemed sort of strange to me, but still, the romantic in me (I try to keep her locked away as much as possible...) was swooning at their chance encounter.

                Their romance heats up as the story goes on, and I thought Hudson did a good job with building romantic tension between Amelia and Joshua, which included a fireworks-and-electricity reaction whenever they touched. But at the same time, their interactions were extremely cheesy. Joshua was the perfect hero, with his dark hair, blue eyes, and innate ability to compliment the heroine and make her feel all tingly. And I had to roll my eyes every time Amelia's voice cracked/squeaked when she was talking to Joshua. I'm pretty sure it happened every time she spoke to him, and it made her sound like a middle-schooler talking to her crush. Their interactions became a constant repetition of Joshua being perfect, and Amelia swooning at how perfect he was.

                And Eli wasn't very menacing as an antagonist. Amelia went back and forth between whether or not she could trust Eli, and Amelia's final "battle" with him was pretty anticlimactic (in my opinion). I would definitely preferred an antagonist with a bit more menace. Joshua's grandma posed a bit of a threat, but even she was more like an angry kitten.

                My main problem with Hereafter was the ending, which lacked an amazing cliffhanger that would have made me run out and buy the next book ASAP. There was a final showdown and everything, but no setup for the next book. In my opinion, a lot of events were rushed, so the author left little setup for events that could happen in the next book.

                I liked Hudson's writing, but Amelia wasn't really deep enough for me to feel like I could relate to her, and Joshua was too much of a cut-and-paste YA "hottie" for him to be believable. I didn't hate this book, but it could have used a bit more work. The plot had promise, but it went downward from there. I will be reading the next book in the series, and I'm just hoping the characters develop more and become more than just their relationship. I really have no idea what's happening in the next book in the series, but I'm hoping for the best.

                I know I've pointed out a lot of negatives about this book, but Hereafter wasn't a horrible book. I don't regret reading it, but it doesn't stand out from other run-of-the-mill YA novels. I would recommend reading it, since it has an interesting plot, and Tara Hudson's writing is pretty decent. I wouldn't put this on the top of my list, but it was still a good read.