Nevernight

Jay Kristoff

“The books we love, they love us back. And just as we mark our places in the pages, those pages leave their marks on us. I can see it in you, sure as I see it in me. You’re a daughter of words. A girl with a story to tell.”

*siiiiiigggghhhhhh* I wanted to love Nevernight, but it was meh.

Let’s get right to it.

Nevernight is not a YA read, I think it falls nicely into the new adult category. Should you read this book right now? If you want to join in discussions of the final book, Darkdawn, which released this month, then you should get on the ball and read the whole series. If you have made it this far without reading Nevernight, then you can wait a little longer. I bought both books in the series on sale over the summer.

Overall, Nevernight is intriguing. My problem with the book is not the plot but the figurative language. I laughed at some of the lines because they were ridiculous, other lines made me laugh because I felt like they were meant to be silly. After a few chapters, I was able to look past the language and grow to love Mia, the main character.

Mia is an assassin in training. When she was a child, her father was marked as a traitor and publically executed. Mia and her family lose their place in society. Mia gains a new drive for revenge as the ability to control shadows awakens in her when she escapes death. By shadows, I mean a shadow cat she names Mister Kindly. He eats her fear and does other cool things. A local townsman takes Mia under his wing and introduces her to the assassin world. With his guidance, Mia joins the Red Church, aka assassin school, and her school days begin. Mia makes friends, finds a lover, and starts to learn more about herself. While making friends and drama starts to unfold. Three words fit the ending perfectly: betrayal, death, and mystery. 

Mia is not your everyday girl but develops into the main character who challenges the norm. She is not beautiful, nor does she care about looks or being a lady. If you are familiar with the character Arya Stark from the Game of Thrones HBO series or A Song of Ice and Fire by GRRM, you will find Mia and Arya are similar. If you like the rough around the edges type, Nevernight is 100% for you.

Why did I dislike it?

The opening sex scene was not great, nor the type of reading I enjoy. Nevernight is filled with flashbacks that were somewhat interesting but for me were distracting. Nevernight is one of those books you have to keep reading to enjoy, I promise it gets better as a book and a series. My biggest complaint was how confusing the book is to understand. I had so many questions that weren’t answered until the books to follow. Which is fine, but I think some things need to be told sooner rather than later.

Should you read Nevernight?

If you like new adult books/series you will enjoy Nevernight. If you looking for a break from YA and want to spice things up with a few steamy pages and oodles of swears, read Nevernight. I didn’t dislike Nevernight but was disappointed I didn’t like it as much as I thought I would. I can’t recommend it with full confidence, but I will continue to read the series out of curiosity. 

Have you read Nevernight? Are you counting the days until the final book in the series? Have you read Jay Kristoff’s other books?

PS: I am reading book two and enjoying it much more than Nevernight.

Where to read?

• Goodreads
• Amazon
• Barnes and Noble

I always encourage you to check out your local library for a digital or physical copy.