Reviews

Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

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lorraineaf's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

the beginning felt slow, i think because i had just read two school/academia based books. but once i picked it back up i immediately got wrapped up in the story and couldn’t put it down.

mistysbookspace's review against another edition

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5.0

This book has been sitting on my shelf for a while but I kept putting off reading it despite knowing I would enjoy it. I'm glad Destiny finally got me to pick this one up. I admit this one took me a little bit to get into but once I did I was once again hooked on one of his stories. I listened to the audiobook while following along in the book which I think was the right way to go with this one because of the footnotes. Those alone took a while to get used to and honestly I still don't think I was used to them by the time I finished reading the book. I don't necessarily think we needed all of the footnotes because they didn't really add to the story overall but it was a nice addition all the same. This book gave me a little bit of everything. There's a lot of action, gore, some romance, some humor and great worldbuilding. It was just a well rounded book and I look forward to jumping into the next book hopefully soon.

kbc1239's review against another edition

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4.0

I have mixed feelings on this. I passed on it earlier but after reading Kristoff's latest book, Empire of the Vampire, I thought I would give it a shot. The book was pretty entertaining with lots of twist. Some predictable others not. I enjoyed the characters, world and writing. I am just kinda burned out on the whole training/school settings. I am impatient and want to see the protagonist exploits and adventures. There was good action, especially towards the end. I was really debating on a 3 or 4 star rating and went with 3 as it was good and I liked it, it was just not for me.

sandra4444's review against another edition

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3.0

*Real rating: 3.3 stars.*

Not going to lie, it took me a while to get used to the writing style. It almost made me want to dnf this book and that is not something that happens often. However, it got better as the story went on or I got used to it, I don't really know.

I thought the parts in the first book were cleverly told as they alternated between flashbacks and the present. Yet it wasn't until Mia arrived to the Red Church that I really began to enjoy the story. The reoccurring footnotes added to the world building and they were rather funny sometimes, yet they became somewhat of a distraction from the actual story, in my opinion. The world of Itreya was the book's strongest point and even though Mia isn't one of my all-time favourite characters, I'm sufficiently invested in her story so that I want to read the sequel.

bookishrona's review against another edition

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5.0

Beautifully dark and artistically written this book has just scored its place as my number 1 favourite of 2020!

This book is so immersive its easy to believe that the world of 'nevernight' is real, the author Jay Kristoff has woven such a compelling story, with so many facts and aspects of this world that it draws you in makes you forget about the real world even just for a moment.

It covers so many aspects of a good book, with adventure, thriller and mystery, and a sprinkling of romance, it kept me enthralled for the entire book!

I love how dark and gorey it got, not afraid to delve into the aspects of the gritty aspects of the story. I absolutely adored watching mia grow in her understanding of her darkness and also in her skills. And I cannot wait to read the second book!

novapens's review against another edition

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3.0

on the verge of DNF, may re-visit review if I finish. Wanted to put some tips for anyone thinking about getting the book...

Wow this is a struggle to get through. I'm going to try to stick with it because it feels like there's something there but some of the writing choices are making it incredible hard. Considering I just spent $10 on it I thought I'd leave this here for anyone trying to decide if it's for them.

First is that this story is told by a Narrator, kind of gives bard or historian vibes, who speaks to the reader and it's...well, it's certainly a choice. Honestly, I could do without it. Or at the very least have it toned down considerably.

Second, there is heavy use of flashbacks to tell Mia's backstory. At least early on, I don't know if this changes later. It's a bit disorienting flipping back and forth every chapter and a little frustrating when I'm much more interested in what's happening in than present than the past.

Third, there are a lot of Roman-ish influence and parallels -- again at least early on. Admittedly this one is a bit nitpicky but the Roman Empire influence/parallels feel overt. Then he went and gave a bunch of people have names like Cladius, Julius, etc. On top of that there's literally a group called the Luminatii. Put all this together and for a world that is supposed to be otherworldly high-fantasy and not in our own setting, the combination is a little off-putting and immersion breaking for me.

Fourth, just since this is a list of things to know about the book if you're curious on reading: it is HEAVY on the prose and flowery writing. Even early on and I imagine this doesn't change.

Still giving it three stars just to be fair because currently I don't know if it gets any better or worse. Will update if I manage to get through it.