Unraveling Words: Unraveling: Everbound by Brodi Ashton

Monday, January 20, 2014

Unraveling: Everbound by Brodi Ashton

Title: Everbound

Series: Everneath Book Two

Publication Date: January 22, 2013

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.

And what happens if she starts to fall for him?

***

My Thoughts

This was a definite improvement from Everneath it regard to two aspects. Cole and the mythology. The only saving grace I found in Everneath had been the mythology and even then it had been brought in too late. Thankfully Everbound was much more mythology oriented therefore more enjoyable to me. Ashton managed to take myths and tie them together seamlessly with her world of Everneath. It made for very entertaining reading, at least in that sense.

The character of Cole is the other reason I'm willing to stick to this trilogy. He is an incredibly complicated character. He is manipulative and cunning and always 10 steps ahead. He is not, in any sense of the imagination, your average villain. It's been two books now of getting to know him, and I still can't figure him out. Usually by this point I've already got a clear sense of all the characters so to find myself to muddled in trying to figure out Cole is refreshing, and worth reading on to try and unravel such a complicated character.

Besides these two strong points, I still couldn't stand Nikki or Jack for that matter. They both irritate me to no end with their self sacrificing and melodramatic love. Yes, melodramatic. Their love does not feel real to me, and it's also quite unhealthy in my opinion. I'm guessing Ashton is trying to portray a Romeo/Juliet epic love, but it doesn't pan out. I hate silly misunderstandings and always assuming crap about what the other person is feeling. Why can't they just ask the other what they feel and, you know be honest for a damn change. There is also Jack's self sacrificing attitude which I can't stand and Nikki who is always 'trying to help' and doesn't want to 'hurt anyway' but manages to mess it up somehow and ends up being completely inconsiderate. She is so naive in some respects that she can't truly see the consequences of her actions.

In short, the great mythology and the one complicated character are the only things carrying this YA fantasy with it's run of the mill oblivious teenage girl MC and over the top love story with it's, of course, required love triangle.

So...