Monday, August 8, 2016

Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

Series: The Nevernight Chronicle #1
448 p.
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Published: 8/9/16
Source: From NetGalley and publisher for review
In a land where three suns almost never set, a fledgling killer joins a school of assassins, seeking vengeance against the powers who destroyed her family. 
Daughter of an executed traitor, Mia Corvere is barely able to escape her father’s failed rebellion with her life. Alone and friendless, she hides in a city built from the bones of a dead god, hunted by the Senate and her father’s former comrades. But her gift for speaking with the shadows leads her to the door of a retired killer, and a future she never imagined. 
Now, Mia is apprenticed to the deadliest flock of assassins in the entire Republic—the Red Church. If she bests her fellow students in contests of steel, poison and the subtle arts, she’ll be inducted among the Blades of the Lady of Blessed Murder, and one step closer to the vengeance she desires. But a killer is loose within the Church’s halls, the bloody secrets of Mia’s past return to haunt her, and a plot to bring down the entire congregation is unfolding in the shadows she so loves.
Will she even survive to initiation, let alone have her revenge?
My thoughts:

I was surprised with this book in terms of labeling it as YA. I can see why it is labeled YA since the characters were so young. However, it has sex and violence in the manner that most adult books carry. It would probably be fine for older teens but parents might want to read it first before handing it to a younger teen.

I also have to admit that for most of the book I would have rated it lower than I have. I think the reason was the footnotes. I both hated and loved them. I hated that I didn't always have the reference right in front of me to associate what it was talking about but I also loved the extra information which I usually crave. Not sure what could be done differently but, for me, it made the flow of the story a bit choppy and by the end when the footnotes were less, it flowed much easier.

The worldbuilding was very interesting and while a lot of questions were answered a few were left lingering but nothing that would constitute a cliffie. There was a twist that I think most will figure out and it is a twist that Mia has not figured out yet. That, I believe, will be forthcoming and it makes sense not to add it in this volume.

I'd say that a good portion of the beginning was a solid 3 1/2 stars for how it flowed, but I did like the ending so I'll push it to 4 stars. I actually consider this an adult book and not YA, but it does have a lot of YA elements to it, especially the way the characters interacted with each other on a relationship level (not the assassin level). I will be looking forward to the next book in this series.

41 comments:

  1. Oh, yes. Those little side notes has the potential to interrupt your reading mojo, tbh. So I think I'm going to try and read the entire thing, then read the footnotes afterwards.

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    1. I have always had a love/hate relationship with those footnotes! :) It's a bigger PITA when you can't flip pages so easily (have an old ereader... ).

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  2. Ooh, the footnotes sound like an issue, especially since I'll probably be reading this on my Kindle. :/ Still, I'm glad you enjoyed this one since I'm really excited for it and I can't wait to compare notes on it when I'm done! Great review, Melissa!

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    1. I'd love to see how you feel about it. I do say... you may have the same problems I did with the footnotes.

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  3. The footnote were a strange addiction weren't they? I can't even remember the last time I saw footnotes in a book. Glad you did like this though, it really was a different read.

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  4. I'm still on the fence about picking this book up. I know it's been hyped and around the blogosphere, but the reviews haven't been great. You either love it or hate it. I'm glad that it flowed better, but I don't think I can buy this one for my teens. I don't want parents knocking at my door. lol

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    1. I think I liked and disliked it. :D I really don't think it is for the younger teens especially.

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  5. I know Kristoff is an author that requires time and patience. I always think his books should be adult, they are way complex for YA.

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    1. I agree and this one really reads as adult to me even though I know older teens would get it and like it.

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  6. More adult you say, sounds good to me!

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  7. I'm pretty sure Jay has said it's an adult novel, but I guess the publisher must have done something wrong...hah I'd definitely say it's adult from what I've heard. I am curious to check this one out. I think the footnotes idea is cool, but I can see how it would disrupt your reading sometimes too.

    -Lauren

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    1. I think it is considered YA by a lot of people considering the age of the kids, but it makes more sense as an adult book! :) I do love/hate those footnotes. :)

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  8. I think the footnotes would bother me, but I am all for an older/adult-ish YA!

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    1. Hope you like it! I'm just not a footnote kind of girl (and yet I love the extra info... go figure... ).

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  9. Hmm! First off, the cover. Am I the only one who is put in mind of one of those ink blot tests?

    A book recently bought by my friend for her 12 year old daughter who is what I consider a mature reader. Shocked by the adult content of what was marketed as a YA read, whilst the daughter did go on to read the book, it was with lots of questions.

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    1. So what does it look like? ;)

      I was a mature reader, but I'm not sure I'd like the violence in it. Knowing the kid and reading it first helps. I still would consider it adult.

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  10. I thought this book was labeled adult, no? It's certainly priced as adult! I reviewed this today, and enjoyed it a lot. Agreed on the footnotes, which I skipped because they were a pain to get to in the eARC. So I pretended they didn't exist :P

    Great review, Melissa!

    Hafsah @ IceyBooks

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    1. I had to know so I couldn't not read them (love the double neg? LOL). I didn't know if it was adult but I had seen several people list it as YA. I would say adult.

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  11. Adult really... but I do think it's fine for older YA/NA crowd.

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  12. Footnotes? There were footnotes?! That is just so weird and I'm pretty sure they would distract me. I'm still on the fence about this one, to be honest.

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    1. Yea, it was distracting for me, but I also loved the extra information. I just don't know... :)

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  13. I wasn't sure about this one and despite the mentioned shortcomings I'm very intrigued!

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  14. It's YA? I didn't know that. Interesting what they list as YA now-a-days. Thanks!

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    1. Honestly, I do think it is adult, but a lot of people see it as YA b/c of the main character's ages.

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  15. Hmm I think I would struggle with this one quite a bit. I was digging the creepy cover, though! Glad it ended up working for ya or the most part :)

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    1. If you don't mind footnotes and the violence, you might really like this one.

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  16. I want to read this so bad! I've heard some say it's YA and some say it's adult, or that it was labeled YA at first and Jay clarified it isn't YA. I don't care. As long as it's good, then I'll be happy! lol.

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  17. I've read a few books that I consider YA only because of the characters' ages. Hunger Games and Arcana Chronicles are two of those series, both of which involve teenagers killing other teenagers. Personally, I do better with those YA stories, but I agree that parents need to be careful about giving these books to their kids. Great review.

    Melanie @ Hot Listens & Rabid Reads

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    1. Oh then I do think you'd enjoy this one. Would be curious on how footnotes would be handled in audio.

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  18. I ended up giving it 4 stars but really it would vary depending what part of the book I was reading and could go as low as 2 at times.

    The footnotes were tricky for me too. They did add a lot of information and some were ver y funny but there were so many and really long at times. It was weird to leave the story to essentially read another story.

    Are they classifying this as YA? I got the impressions they weren't. I think that maybe his fan base and the cover seem YA so they aren't necessarily going out of their way to clarify.

    Karen @For What It's Worth

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    1. I would have to agree with your star and footnote assessment. I don't know if the author and publisher classify it as such, but I've seen a lot of people think it was YA. I did at first as well. I think it is very much adult.

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  19. A few people have complained about footnotes. It can be distracting for sure, impedes the flow when you see those little numbers, you can't help but find out what it's about.

    I have yet to read this one, all the mixed reviews are making me wary. I want to go into this blind so I will have to wait a little bit. lol

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    1. I've always love/hated the footnotes. *sigh* My bane. :)

      You might library book it. :)

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  20. I didn't realise Jay Kristoff had a new book out, this sounds interesting but I think I would be annoyed by the footnotes.

    A great review! Sharon - Obsession with Books

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    1. It was interesting, and it might be just my niggle. Might library book it to see if it bothers you. :)

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  21. I've been looking forward to this one. Interesting that there is adult content in it. I must get to it sooner!

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