Nevernight

Just try it....

I bought this book to kill time until another book was released and I'm sooooo glad I did. I was a little put off by the cadence and slightly odd tone of the narrator but the story was great! It contains just enough the popular fantasy elements (romance, revenge, grit, magic, mystery) to keep the story engaging. It's definitely a book meant only for adults.

30 of 32 people found this review helpful

Truly outstanding - a top 10 read

What made the experience of listening to Nevernight the most enjoyable?

Good narrator; unique narrative style

What other book might you compare Nevernight to and why?

Name of the Wind, but with assassins

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. Absorbing, but may be better in segments, as the content and style can be rich.

Any additional comments?

Highly recommended. Book One of a trilogy (the others aren't out yet), but it wraps up enough - no need to wait.

34 of 37 people found this review helpful

Great story but I find it hard to recommend

Great story. Excellent writing. Awesome narrator. Some really good characters.

So, why a 3 rating?

I was really disappointed by the author's seeming obsession with sex, lust, body parts (nether regions mostly) and bad language.

I don't mind a little raciness. I can handle it. Really. But this was over the top. I feel like he could have done a PG-13 version and it would've been fine. Probably even better.

It's OK to leave a little mystery for the reader and allow them to use their imagination. Trust me, though. No imagination needed for this book. Nope. It's all spelled out with excruciating detail.

Total bummer because it's well written otherwise and I would have liked to recommend it. I also would have liked to read book #2 when it comes out. But I think I'll have to pass.

One more pet peeve: There were a lot of tangents and backstories, little side tales to explain a hand gesture or name. They also were not needed and were usually really, really distracting.

29 of 32 people found this review helpful

Starts out in a lovely manner...

I started out loving this... but it goes from poem to Harry Potter: Assassin Edition to confused Murder Mystery/Adventure.

It feels as if the author wanted to write a beautiful epitaph carved in blood and pain, but then decided that it was lacking substance and changed formats several times over.

In addition, not only were certain sections rushed together removing any sense of immersion, but I was dismayed that although the performance was done passably well, the narrator is not female. Maybe later we'll find out that the reason for the narrator, but this felt out of place.

Given the maps and stylisation choices chosen by the author, should one choose to read this they're better off with the actual text.

29 of 33 people found this review helpful

I liked it more than I thought I would

Nevernight was one of those books that take you by surprise. It had good ratings, so I thought, it should prove entertaining, at least. But I found it much more than entertaining. It was thoughtful, seductive, mysterious, and funny in its prose. Mia is a strong and resilient character. I immediately liked her zeal for getting what she wants. There is a love interest, but it isn't all consuming. Sexual tension exists between Mia and Trig, but it is not distracting. Mia merely sees him for who he is and both loves and hates it. It's a friendship of convenience at first, then morphs into something different.

The story constantly moves and builds then comes to a climax at the end. There is resolution (no cliff hanger) but you feel compelled to move on. I really like the way Jay Kristoff writes. He has a refreshing style (for which I cannot articulate). It's simply.....poetic. Eager for Godsgrave.

9 of 10 people found this review helpful

Stupid Revenge Fantasy

I knew about halfway through that I hated this book, but since I'd already devoted 10-plus hours to it, I decided to keep going. What a mistake. At the end, we're no closer to understanding why a bunch of assassins who worship the goddess of death should be considered the good guys.

The acolytes and teachers kill and maim each other with abandon and the murder and torture scenes go on forever, read with a breathless, halting quality that I suppose is meant to be poetic but just made me yell at my iPhone. The entire book is like an extra-long version of Arya Stark's journey to Bravos and initiation at the House of Black and White. That was one of the most boring and pointless parts of Game of Thrones, but at least we'd already come to love and understand Arya when forced to endure those sections. At one point in this book, the protagonist, Mia, appears as an avenging demon caked in blood, reminding me of Carrie, but even stupider.

And, the sex scenes are beyond creepy. I was truly skeeved out when listening to an older male narrator read about the sexual awakening of a teenaged girl (once again with the breathless, halting quality of a voyeur). And, that creepiness was doubled when I remembered this book was written by a man. ("Oh the impossible hardness inside her, blah, blah, blah").

In the epilogue, the author explains away his failure to provide any answers to who this girl is or why we should care about her by telling us that this is just part one of a three-part birth, life, and death story. I, for one, do not plan to waste another 40 hours.

17 of 20 people found this review helpful

Simply boring..

If I wanted to wast 20hrs and 10min of my life, I could probably give a better review. However, I simply didnt have the fortitude to make it past the first several chapters. Maybe it was yawningly dull writing, mediocre narration, or utter lack of believable character development, but it has gone down in my history of over 10 years with audible as one of three returns. Just fair warning.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

*sigh*

After 10+ hours, I give up. Often enough it was interesting and well written, and not even the graphic “this eye-roll inducing scene belongs in a bad romance novel” sex extravaganza (*rolls eyes right out of head*) drove me off, but it was finally a simple “teenage girls interacting” scene that killed it for me. It was obvious that the author was trying (I guess? Too hard, perhaps?), but it’s the Nope Boat for me. I tried, but give me something with mature characters and more engaging themes than Adventure Time at the Assassin School. 🙄

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Soooooooooooo bored... can't even make chapter 3.

May be the story, may be the relatively good narrator working with what he has in a really boring tale, but I literally couldn't get past the third chapter. The author's attempted poetic writing falls incredibly short of interesting in...well, at least three chapters and thus, deemed not worth moving on with for me. I gave up and returned the book for better credits.

I have no idea where the story is going, but for me, not worth the listen to find out. it's just...dull.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Narrator was awful; had to stop 6 chapters in.

the story itself might have been good; it was too early to tell if it was going the cliche gritty young tragic heroine thing or it was going to get properly good. however the narration was so awful I couldn't get past the start of chapter 6. Every word was said in staccato. There was. only. one way.. this narrator. knew. how to speak. it was so bloody annoying I had to send it back for my credit. maybe the book itself would be okay but skip the audio book version and go old fashioned for this one.

5 of 6 people found this review helpful