“Too many books. Too few centuries.”
-Jay Kristoff
Author: Jay Kristoff
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication Date: August 9, 2016
My Rating: 4.5 Stars
You know when you read a book and you just want to force everybody to read it? And it’s so good that you just don’t have the right words to say. It’s this book. I have loved Jay Kristoff since I read Stormdancer back in 2014. For some reason I never picked up Nevernight. I think I was just so attached to his first series that I just didn’t think anything else could be that good (plus he tears your heart out in his books so I admit I was a little afraid). So many people have begged me to read this. I definitely should have read it sooner. Did it tear my heart out and hurt? Yes. Did I love every painful moment? Yes.
The way Kristoff writes is like he actually experienced the story. He makes the stories feel as though they really happened. It is very rare that I get emotional when reading. I never cry when reading. He makes me cry every dang time. If I’m not careful, I’ll end up writing a whole post on Jay Kristoff (hands down one of my favorite authors of all time) and not Nevernight.
So let’s talk this beautiful, bloody mess. I went into this book thinking it was about a cold blooded assassin. I was happily convinced otherwise that Mia Corvere actually had a ton of depth. She did what she had to but she also had her own set of moral rules. I very much so enjoyed her stab stab stabby all over the place in one scene and in the next asking a fellow assassin if they wanted to talk about what happened to him. She was my favorite character.
I also loved the side characters like Tric (hot tamale), Ash, Lottie, and most importantly Mister Kindly. I have heard so much about him and now I want him. He is Mia’s shadow cat and I want to know how she got him so I can get him too. He is hilariously sarcastic and very mysterious. Plus, he eats her fear. Gimme, gimme, gimme!
I would just like to take a moment to talk about how the plot started as one thing and ended as another. So. Many. Shocking. Twists. Seriously, at the end of the book, I was like, “Did I start reading another book?! BECAUSE WHAT THE HECK JUST HAPPENED?!” That ending tore me up! Once again, Kristoff blows my freaking mind.
Okay y’all, I had to knock a half star off because those sex scenes were way, WAY too vivid. I don’t really like it when I’m reading this really great plot and they take a commercial break to have sex. Like, why though? It didn’t have anything to do with the plot. I was like, ummm can we get back to the program here?! Thank you. Geeze Louise.
Final thoughts: I love Jay Kristoff. Whoops, did I say that already? I want a not-cat. Oops, did I say that too? For real though, this book was a freaking blast and I will force you to read it. And you will thank me. Especially if you like bloody, stabby, stab, BA assassins with strange magical powers. I had one friend dub it ‘Murder Hogwarts’! I can’t wait to dig into Godsgrave (Ha. Ha. Dig? I’m so punny. You love it.)!
Happy Adventuring!
Storied Adventures 