Nevernight (The Nevernight Chronicle Book 1)

Nevernight ♦ Jay Kristoff

Opinion

Mia Corvere saw her father hanged by the neck when she was very little, and her mother made her watch to remember, and seek revenge. After her mother and younger brother are put in jail, Mia would have followed suit if it weren’t for her shadowy buddy, Mister Kindly. After being raised by Mercurio and receiving training in the use of poison, swords, and combat, she enters the Red Church. A place resembling a school where the initiates are taught all the abilities necessary to become Blades, also known as assassins and proficient killers.

When I started reading the book, I had to flinch. I am a so-called night owl. As much as I like the summer sun and all the great activities that come with it, I love the dark and mysterious hours of the night. Now imagine you live in a world where it hardly turns night because there are three suns. During Mia‘s adventure to reach the Red Church she meets Tric, who becomes one of her closest friends during their training to become Blades.

As Mia battles it out with the other Acolytes for a spot to be initiated, it was very entertaining to see to see how she makes allies and foes in the process, and I was never sure what kind of surprise she had up her sleeves. And Jay Kristoff did have one up his sleeves at the end, I did NOT see this one coming, and I was there going like „What the F***?“

At the beginning, it took me a while to get into the whole plot of Nevernight. Kristoff’s writing style was a bit unaccustomed to me. But after a couple chapters the plot was able to draw me in, and it didn’t let me go until I read the last page. The whole world building Kristoff created came alive during the read. His characters grew chapter by chapter. What really intrigued me that this book is rough and graphic. It’s one of the favorite qualities of it that I enjoyed the most. It effectively sliced through the nonsense, restrictions, and censors that are frequent in YA.

This review was first published at TheArtofReading.de.