I FINALLY READ THIS AND.. GUESS WHAT? ~ Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

~ Kathy H.

Review

Nevernight (The Nevernight Chronicle, #1)TITLE: Nevernight
AUTHOR: Jay Kristoff

RELEASED: June 29, 2017
PUBLISHER: Harper Collins
FORMAT: Paperback

GENRE: Adult Fantasy
GOODREADS RATING: 4.30

TRIGGERS: Whole lot of murder, swearing, animal death, sexy times!

SYNOPSIS
Mia Covere is only ten years old when she is given her first lesson in death.

Destined to destroy empires, the child raised in shadows made a promise on the day she lost everything: to avenge herself on those that shattered her world.

But the chance to strike against such powerful enemies will be fleeting, and Mia must become a weapon without equal. Before she seeks vengeance, she must seek training among the infamous assassins of the Red Church of Itreya.

Inside the Church’s halls, Mia must prove herself against the deadliest of opponents and survive the tutelage of murderers, liars and demons at the heart of a murder cult.

The Church is no ordinary school, but Mia is no ordinary student.

Standaard

I know, I know. I’m so late to reading this but I just.. kept postponing really? Truth be told, I’ve been eager to read Nevernight for months but since the wait for Darkdawn is still ages of – even more so now I’ve read this one – I forced myself to wait. Until I couldn’t anymore and now.. you’re about to read the consequences.

The good

And people, the consequences are severe. They are the worst. The WORST I tell you. Because I hate myself for not having read this sooner. I hate myself for not having read anything by Jay Kristoff other than The Illuminae Files – which I loved as well. I should’ve known I’d love Nevernight. Actually. I knew I’d love it and I still forced myself to wait?! What kind of person am I.. 

But let’s dive into the actual review, right?

The writing. Because, skies yes, I’m in love. I’ve been following Kristoff on both Facebook and Twitter for a while and the guy cracks me up all the time. His humor, his sarcasm, the way he says things – not to mention the way he promotes his books – is.. amazing and right up my alley? I expected to find the same in his books but not in the amount Nevernight succeeded at doing. Made my.. year? Basically? Yes, Jay Kristoff is part of the reason 2018 was an awesome year. There! I said it!
I was laughing and snorting all the time, even when I definitely shouldn’t – but I’m pretty sure that’s okay – and was loving every second of it. I was hardly fifty pages in when I realized I need all his books. I’ll be swapping my paperbacks for hardback copies for sure.

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 the words. A girl with a story to tell.

As for the actual story and characters? All the love! People warned me Nevernight has a slow start and, even though I have to agree, I was still invested in Mia and her story from the get-go. She intrigued me and I wanted to find out what made her tick, what made her the way she is and what would happen to her once she got to The Red Church – if she’d get there anyway. The grayness of her character got to me and pulled me so hard into this story right until the end – and beyond. She’s vicious, she’s out for revenge, she’s an absolute bad-ass female character all while still maintaining this.. young and naive vibe in ways I didn’t expect but appreciated even more for it. That combination is something you rarely see in books, let alone executed to perfection but Nevernight delivers easily.

I appear to have misplaced the fucks I give for what you think.

The world.. People. Jay Kristoff’s writing is on point. The characters he creates are amazingly fleshed-out and unique. His world-building? Top. Notch. There’s so many background, so many layers to his world – which shows in his footnotes, but more on that later – that you just feel like it could be a real world. I honestly wish it was because it feels so real that it should be real.

The bad

I wanted to leave this thing empty since it isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I have to say the footnotes aren’t really my jam. Although I loved reading them once in a while, the very long ones didn’t appeal to me? Especially since I totally lost track of the story if I did. I did like the shorter ones with sassy, sarcastic comments though, haha. After a while, I got into the habit of skipping the long ones and going back to them after finishing a chapter and that actually worked way better for me!

Never flinch.” A cold whisper in her ear. “Never fear. And never, ever forget.

five stars
Do you honestly expect me to give anything less than five cupcakes? I hope not! Because I won’t! I’d give ten if I could! And I’m so ridiculously stoked about Godsgrave too! Especially as, at the time of writing this post, I just pulled Godsgrave out of my January Jam Jar. I actually finished it last weekend and LOVED IT AS WELL. Now.. let the torturous wait for Darkdawn commence.

Have you read Nevernight? What did you think?
How do you feel about the footnotes?
If you haven’t read it yet, are you planning on it?
Does anyone know any authors with a similar sense of humor as Kristoff?!

Nametag

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44 thoughts on “I FINALLY READ THIS AND.. GUESS WHAT? ~ Nevernight by Jay Kristoff”

  1. YESSS. I’m so glad you loved it! ♥ I’m rereading it right now through the audiobook before finally diving into Godsgrave, and the footnotes are so much better in the audiobook? The narrator seamlessly integrates them into the text so that it doesn’t even miss a beat, and it works SO WELL. But I feel you on having to come back to the long footnotes; that’s what I did too, after about 50pg or so of constantly losing my place. 😂

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Ha. I can see how that would work waaay better with an audiobook, to be honest! Although I’m still nope about giving those another shot. Maybe someday I might try out The Illuminae Files [If only because CERTAIN people keep raving about the audio, haha.]
      I lost my mind after losing my place in the story a couple times in a row. Like. It’s SO FRUSTRATING when that happens. [Even more so when it’s because people start bothering you but still.]

      Liked by 1 person

    1. Maybe the few very funny, sarcastic and sassy comments that were thrown in there at times but.. overall I don’t think you have. It’s mainly history of things that doesn’t really have anything to do with the actual story, in my opinion.

      Liked by 1 person

  4. One of my close friends is legit obsessed with this series and I still haven’t read it lol I’m kind of scared of all the cliffhangers that Jay loves to throw in there. I’m not sure how I’ll feel about cliffnotes – I feel like I’ll be lazy about them if I’m honest lol Great review and I am kind of in love with your cupcake rating – how freaking cute!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. So many people are obsessed with it! I love the books, but I don’t think I’d go as far as being obsessed with it, haha.
      The cliffhangers didn’t bother me all that much. Godsgrave at least doesn’t really end with a cliffhanger – for me – since I saw it coming. It did leave me with a whole load of questions though. Which is even more frustrating in a way? 😛
      Oh, I relate! I found myself skipping the huge footnotes after a while and only read the shorter ones. :’)
      Aawh! Thank you! ❤

      Like

  5. Haven’t read this yet.
    Footnotes I’m not sure about. Terry Pratchett had a lot, but those kinda felt like part of the story so i didn’t mind them.
    But i don’t think they’d work for me if they were just separate notes.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Kristoff’s footnotes mostly consist of background stories. Like, if he mentioned a legend or name with a story behind it, he uses the footnotes to expand on those things. It’s, in a way, part of the story, but it didn’t feel necessary all the time.
      Sometimes it’s simply sarcastic comments – those I loved.

      Liked by 1 person

    2. I want to I think that’s the reason I haven’t picked it up yet because of how his writing is going to be different. I don’t read a whole lot of fantasy/sci-fi and I’m scared I’m not going to like it because of that.

      Liked by 1 person

    3. Hm. His style isn’t the usual one when it comes to fantasy / scifi though. He simply has this very sarcastic, dark and sassy kind of humor that runs throughout his work. It’s something I love and totally relate to since my humor is kind of the same way.
      Maybe you should try and read a chapter at the library before deciding whether or not it’s your thing?

      Liked by 1 person

  9. I really need to get this book!! Omg your review has made me want to go buy it right now. I haven’t read any of Jay Kristoff’s books before but I’ve heard nothing but great things.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Gaaah, that’s like the most awesome thing someone could say after reading a review! THANK YOU! ❤
      Jay Kristoff's writing is sooo unique. All the sarcasm and darkish humor is to die for if you're into that, haha. Not to mention his world-building is phenomenal! I hope you end up reading his work! And loving it! 😀

      Liked by 1 person

    1. You’re so right to have waited! I couldn’t resist any longer and ended up reading Nevernight next month, then pulled Godsgrave from my TBR jar this month and now I’m.. frustrated with the wait ahead of me. Blaming myself, haha! Hope you end up loving these books! ❤

      Liked by 1 person

  12. Oh, I loved Nevernight, it took me a little to get into this book but once I did I loved it and the footnotes scattered throughout the story (you should check out The Bartimeaus Trilogy, it has a sassy character and footnotes through out the story, you’ll love it) I loved all the characters, my favourite was mister kindly. I’m dying to get to Godsgrave but before that I need to read Nevernight again to freshen up my memory

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I loved the footnotes at first, until some of them started being ridiculously long and I.. totally lost track of the actual story because of them? Haha. It’s definitely something to get used to.
      Oh, looked it up and it does sound good. Gives me a bit of Harry Potter-vibes in a way, but seems completely different at the same time. I like!
      Mister Kindly is everything, haha!

      Liked by 1 person

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