Nevernight - Review

Book Review:
Title: Nevernight
Author: Jay Kristoff
Publisher: HarperVoyager
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

“I’m a rumour. A whisper. The thought that wakes the bastards of this world sweating in the nevernight.”

Destined to destroy empires, Mia Covere is only ten years old when she is given her first lesson in death.
Six years later, the child raised in shadows takes her first steps towards keeping the promise she made on the day that she lost everything.
But the chance to strike against such powerful enemies will be fleeting, so if she is to have her revenge, Mia must become a weapon without equal. She must prove herself against the deadliest of friends and enemies, and survive the tutelage of murderers, liars and demons at the heart of a murder cult.
The Red Church is no Hogwarts, but Mia is no ordinary student.
The shadows love her. And they drink her fear.

What a book!
When I first became aware of Nevernight, there were three key words I constantly heard over and over again that stuck with me. Three words that ultimately drew me into this book and made me realise that this is a book I NEED to read. What were those three words you say? Assassins, Revenge & Murder. Otherwise know as my kind of book. Honestly, what more could I even ask for?! (Okay, maybe some more romance because I'm a sucker for a good romance, but it still had basically everything I love)
This book managed to deliver on everything it pitched - there were assassins, there was revenge and there were a lot of murders, some of which are still a bit too raw to talk about *sobs* (Jay Kristoff is ruthless!)

So we have our main protagonist, Mia Covere, who at the tender age of 10 was made to stand and watch as her father was murdered right in front of her eyes. Since that life changing moment, six years ago, she has lived her life with one goal in mind, avenge her father's death. And once Mia sets her mind to something, she ensures that she sticks to it and doesn't let anything or anyone get in her way. And trust me when I say, you would not want to get in her way. She will cut you! It's one of the main things I admired about her; she was a head-strong and all-around intriguing, complex character. I mean, she has the power to control the shadows!! How cool is that?! I loved learning more about her ability throughout this book and seeing how she can command the shadows and bend them to her will. Forget flying, super strength & all those other powers, I want to control the shadows!

Also while we're on the topic of shadows, I just want to quickly share my love for Mister Kindly who is Mia's very own shadow cat and definitely one of my favourite characters of the book!
To be honest, I loved every character in this book. They were all so fascinating and each of them added something special to the story. We had Tric, Ashlinn and Jessamine to name a few.

As a whole, I really enjoyed this book, but there were two things that unfortunately stopped this book from being a 5 star read. (Bear in mind that these are my personal opinions and that they may differ from other people)

1. It took quite a bit of time to really get used to the writing and be able to fully immerse myself into the story. The ARC I had was 640 pages and I believe it took about 150 pages for it all to really click with me.
2. The footnotes didn't work for me. They were actually very interesting and funny at times, but every time I read one, especially the longer ones, it ended up distracting me and pulled me out of the story.  

But other than those two points, this was a fantastic read!

On a different note, I've seen a lot of discussion on whether this book should be classed as young-adult or adult. Everyone has their own different view points, which is great, but personally rather than classing this as one or the other all I'm going to say is, that this book is a dark & gritty read. It has graphic violence, sexual scenes and a lot of swearing. If these don't bother you, then I really recommend you pick this book up.
In my opinion, as a young-adult, I actually found it quite refreshing to see a teenage character swearing. So many authors when writing about a teenager tend to refrain from including swear words and dirty deeds, but in some ways, it makes the story unrealistic for me, because who are we kidding, teenagers swear a lot! (Though I do understand and respect that it may make some feel uncomfortable when reading)

Never Flinch. Never Fear. Never Forget.

4 Stars
Goodreads