Mia Corvere has been familiar with death since she witnessed her father’s execution at only ten years old. After six years of learning in the shadows, Mia is determined to fulfill the oath of revenge she made on the day that her entire world was lost. But in order to do so, she has to become a powerful weapon and so, she comes under the tutelage of the Red Church, a school for assassins. There Mia will encounter friends and foes, deadly skills in weapons of both steel and mind, and she will be forced to prove once and for all that she can become the sharp blade that will take revenge on those who tore her world apart.
Nevernight is, by far, one of the best stories I’ve read all year.
If you were following my updates on Goodreads as I read it, you might have observed that it took me a little longer than normal to actually finish reading this story. But I savored every single minute I spent with Mia. It was so incredibly immersive, which is certainly to its credit. I felt like I was right there with her during the tragedies of her childhood, the difficulties of her time at the Red Church and the nights she spent reviewing the internal conflicts and fears that plague her mind. Additionally, the story that comes to life around her – life in the Red Church, the politics and power plays in Godsgrave, the friendships and the rivalries – they all color her story even further. It is a testament to Kristoff’s storytelling ability that there are so many plots and relationships woven into a very intricate web that will both fascinate and challenge readers. (And, personally, I enjoyed the footnotes, finding them to be fun little additions that would elaborate on certain phrases or references. While not necessary to the tale, they definitely made the world just that much more real to me.)
At its heart, Nevernight is really the story of a girl hell bent on exacting revenge on behalf of the family she lost. But as readers will come to see, the story blossoms into something even larger in scope. Thoughtful, brutal and yet not without a sense of humor, I really did wind up loving Nevernight as much as I’d hoped to. If you’re not averse to gore and brutality, and if you don’t mind a bit of a slow start combined with complex world-building, I’d highly recommend giving this fantasy novel a try.
Nevernight by Jay Kristoff | Series: The Nevernight Chronicle #1
Publisher: Harper Voyager | Publication Date: August 11, 2016
Source: Hardcover received in Illumicrate; e-ARC downloaded from NetGalley (Thanks!)
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