Everbound by Brodi Ashton

Everbound by Brodi Ashton

Publisher: Balzer + Bray      
Publication date: January 22nd 2013
My rating: 4 stars

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.
In this enthralling sequel to Everneath, Brodi Ashton tests the bonds of destiny and explores the lengths we’ll go to for the ones we love.

It's a rare treat to stumble upon a book where I ship the main characters with both guys. I usually go for the underdog which frequently leaves my ships unsailed in the harbor. 

If you haven't already read the first book you should probably stop reading cause I will be posting some minor spoilers. 

Everbound starts up not long ago after Jack sacrificed himself for Nikki. He's now in Everneath and Nikki's trying to persuade Cole to help her get him back. Nikki doesn't have a life on Earth so the obvious choice would be to hunt Jack down. What else's she going to do with her time?

It's strange how riveting these books are once you start reading them. Well, at least it's strange for me because I never think of mythology as something new and fresh. Same things goes for retellings. We all already know how those stories go so there isn't much left to be desired. But Brodi Ashton's books are effortless and gripping. At this point I don't think she can go wrong with the final book. 

Now to the love triangle which isn't actually a triangle since Nikki obviously loves Jack. Cole somehow succeeds to weasel his blond head into the equation. I don't know how he does it every time. There's something about him. I just can't hate him. I still don't think he's a bad guy, even though he tricks Nikki every chance he gets. I start to think he'll change and do something selfless. Guess I'll have to hope he'll advance from his current state for mind. There's still one more book left. 

I'm so glad I decided to wait and read Everbound near the release of Evertrue.  The ending was unexpected, to say the least. 

Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Publisher: Balzer + Bray    
Publication date: January 24th 2012
My rating: 4 stars

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.

Don't know what it is but I feel like I give higher ratings to books I own in print. I'm actually positive. It must be because of that wonderful book smell and page flipping. 

So. How to start this thing? You know those love triangle books have two different guys fighting over a girl? And you always pick a side. You either go for the bad boy or the boy next door. Well, this time I can't make up my mind. On one hand there's Jack. Nikki's boyfriend who's always been there for her and treater her right. Basically, he's a really nice guy. I should be on Team Jack but I'm still not sure. Then there's Cole. He's an Everliving. He's an immortal/Hades/supernatural being or whatever and he wants Nikki to stay with him forever in Everneath. He's also in a band called Dead Elvises which means he's very popular with the ladies but he only has eyes for Nikki. This should pull me in from the start but there's this thing where Cole doesn't actually feel anything. He just steals other people's emotions. He doesn't have his own so I'm not completely on board of Cole x Nikki ship. There's still time for improvement in the sequel which we'll probably see Cole's some human side. Hope I'm not wrong about this. 

Huh. I do love to ramble about love triangles. 

I did start reading this book last year but abandoned it after the first ten pages for some reason. I think I was tired of the hyped YA books back then. However, I did like it this time. In fact, it was unputdownable. Mum was bugging me to help her with some things and I said I have just a few pages left when there were actually 120 pages left. Now she's mad at me but I'll make it up to her somehow. I didn't mind hearing her yell. It was worth it. :) Can't wait to find out what happens next. Now I just need to order Everbound.