I’m always looking for new interesting books to dive into, and Nevernight kept popping up in my Instagram feed. Instantly I was intrigued by the cover art and it screamed to be read. Initially, Nevernight appeared to be a YA fantasy like a majority of the books I read. Let me reassure you that this book is in fact NOT written for younger readers. This book was written for an ADULT audience, regardless if you find it in the YA section at your local book store.
Plot
We follow Mia Corvere on her journey of revenge and justice for her family. All alone after narrowly escaping being murdered, Mia hides within the shadows of a city made of bones. This draws the attention of an old ex-assassin that teaches her the skills she will need to join a school for an elite group of killers. Once she arrives at the Red Church, Mia has to navigate her classes to rise above the other initiates to be inducted as a Blade of The Lady of Blessed Murder. Within these walls Mia must survive her classes, a mysterious murderer, and the secrets of her past. With all of these challenges in front of her, will Mia be able to survive becoming a Blade and exact her revenge?
Review
I loved this book from start to finish. Really, I cannot sing my praises for this book loud enough.
This book is about Mia Corvere, but told by an unnamed narrator. For a main character, Mia is such a bad ass equipped with her wits, dagger, and the shadows. Yes, she is able to manipulate the shadows which just adds to her mystery and appeal. On the surface level, Mia is fearless, sarcastic, witty, and honestly she is described as pretty plain appearance wise. Yes! I love a strong female protagonist, they are amazing and I wish I could be them. BUT, what I love about Mia is that even though she appears confident, merciless, and independent; she has her demons, fears, compassion, and hates to be alone.
I really like Mia’s character and how she conducts herself throughout her journey. Staying true to not only herself, but how she navigates her relationships is interesting and so human. She is an assassin with powers and more often than not feels no fear. Mia could easily isolate herself from the other initiates like she initially plans on doing to rise above them all. However, she makes deep connections and helps her friends out despite being in competition with these people to become a Blade. Mia doesn’t allow herself to twist her morals or become someone she’s not. This humanness and her stubbornness to remain Mia Corvere is what makes her such a relatable character, despite the magical assassin aspect.
I’m not going to get into any of the other characters in this review because I would absolutely HATE to spoil anything for anyone. So now I’m going to give my thoughts on the book itself. One thing that took a little bit to get used to was the footnotes. Yeah, there’s footnotes in an adult fantasy book. Definitely didn’t expect that… Or that they would sometimes take up half the page or carry over to the next page. At first I was annoyed. Once I got used to them though, they were actually kind of nice to have to explain certain aspects of this fantasy world without interrupting the flow of the story. You could argue that you have to stop reading the story in order to read the footnotes, but I look at is as the footnotes are totally optional when reading. You don’t have to read them, they are just there to expand on some concepts and to offer clarification so the reader doesn’t get confused. Also, some are funny as hell.
Then there’s the crude language, humor, graphic scenes, and sexual scenes. For me, I am totally unbothered by all of this. I enjoy books that are on the darker end of the spectrum, my humor can be a little dark at times, and I swear. If you don’t want a book to slap you in the face with the opening sentence, this book is not for you. If you prefer your romantic or sex scenes to be vague with their wording so you have to use your imagination, this book is not for you. If you prefer there to not be a lot of killing or blood throughout the story (why did you pick up this book about an assassin?), this book is not for you. If you don’t like when there’s a lot of swearing, this book is not for you. If this book is not for you, that is okay.
Nevernight was written for a very specific audience. I fit right in this group. I loved this book. My intent with this review is to give a brief, spoiler free, insight into the book. I want you to know what to expect. Picking this book up just because of the hype around it, without knowing what to expect and then having you hate it? That would just break my heart. This book should be given a chance, but if you were on the fence before reading this review? I hope you have a better idea about what to expect from this amazing book.
Favorite Quotes
“You’re a daughter of words. A girl with a story to tell.”
“I appear to have misplaced the fucks I give for what you think.”
“Never flinch, never fear, and never, ever, forget.”
Jean Jacket: The jacket* is from Blissfully Bookish Co.
*The Nevernight inspired jean jacket is a limited edition item that is no longer available, but they have many other bookish clothing items!
Star Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
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