Nevernight

By: Jay Kristoff

Narrated by: Holter Graham

Length: 20 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's Summary

Nevernight is the first in an epic new fantasy series from New York Times best-selling author Jay Kristoff.

In a land where three suns almost never set, a fledgling killer joins a school of assassins, seeking vengeance against the powers who destroyed her family.

Daughter of an executed traitor, Mia Corvere is barely able to escape her father's failed rebellion with her life. Alone and friendless, she hides in a city built from the bones of a dead god, hunted by the Senate and her father's former comrades. But her gift for speaking with the shadows leads her to the door of a retired killer and a future she never imagined.

Now, 16-year-old Mia is apprenticed to the deadliest flock of assassins in the entire Republic - the Red Church. Treachery and trials await her within the Church's halls, and to fail is to die. But if she survives to initiation, Mia will be inducted among the chosen of the Lady of Blessed Murder and be one step closer to the only thing she desires: revenge.

©2016 Neverafter PTY LTD (P)2016 Macmillan Audio

Just try it....

I bought this book to kill time until another book was released and I'm sooooo glad I did. I was a little put off by the cadence and slightly odd tone of the narrator but the story was great! It contains just enough the popular fantasy elements (romance, revenge, grit, magic, mystery) to keep the story engaging. It's definitely a book meant only for adults.

28 of 29 people found this review helpful

Stupid Revenge Fantasy

I knew about halfway through that I hated this book, but since I'd already devoted 10-plus hours to it, I decided to keep going. What a mistake. At the end, we're no closer to understanding why a bunch of assassins who worship the goddess of death should be considered the good guys.

The acolytes and teachers kill and maim each other with abandon and the murder and torture scenes go on forever, read with a breathless, halting quality that I suppose is meant to be poetic but just made me yell at my iPhone. The entire book is like an extra-long version of Arya Stark's journey to Bravos and initiation at the House of Black and White. That was one of the most boring and pointless parts of Game of Thrones, but at least we'd already come to love and understand Arya when forced to endure those sections. At one point in this book, the protagonist, Mia, appears as an avenging demon caked in blood, reminding me of Carrie, but even stupider.

And, the sex scenes are beyond creepy. I was truly skeeved out when listening to an older male narrator read about the sexual awakening of a teenaged girl (once again with the breathless, halting quality of a voyeur). And, that creepiness was doubled when I remembered this book was written by a man. ("Oh the impossible hardness inside her, blah, blah, blah").

In the epilogue, the author explains away his failure to provide any answers to who this girl is or why we should care about her by telling us that this is just part one of a three-part birth, life, and death story. I, for one, do not plan to waste another 40 hours.

11 of 11 people found this review helpful

Truly outstanding - a top 10 read

What made the experience of listening to Nevernight the most enjoyable?

Good narrator; unique narrative style

What other book might you compare Nevernight to and why?

Name of the Wind, but with assassins

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. Absorbing, but may be better in segments, as the content and style can be rich.

Any additional comments?

Highly recommended. Book One of a trilogy (the others aren't out yet), but it wraps up enough - no need to wait.

33 of 35 people found this review helpful

Loved this!

It was a little slow in the beginning, but so worth it. I loved the premise, and it had all the good stuff - reluctant heroes, a little romance, power hungry politicos, zealots, monsters and shadow assassins. I am looking forward to the next book.

8 of 8 people found this review helpful

Great story but I find it hard to recommend

Great story. Excellent writing. Awesome narrator. Some really good characters.

So, why a 3 rating?

I was really disappointed by the author's seeming obsession with sex, lust, body parts (nether regions mostly) and bad language.

I don't mind a little raciness. I can handle it. Really. But this was over the top. I feel like he could have done a PG-13 version and it would've been fine. Probably even better.

It's OK to leave a little mystery for the reader and allow them to use their imagination. Trust me, though. No imagination needed for this book. Nope. It's all spelled out with excruciating detail.

Total bummer because it's well written otherwise and I would have liked to recommend it. I also would have liked to read book #2 when it comes out. But I think I'll have to pass.

One more pet peeve: There were a lot of tangents and backstories, little side tales to explain a hand gesture or name. They also were not needed and were usually really, really distracting.

25 of 27 people found this review helpful

Starts out in a lovely manner...

I started out loving this... but it goes from poem to Harry Potter: Assassin Edition to confused Murder Mystery/Adventure.

It feels as if the author wanted to write a beautiful epitaph carved in blood and pain, but then decided that it was lacking substance and changed formats several times over.

In addition, not only were certain sections rushed together removing any sense of immersion, but I was dismayed that although the performance was done passably well, the narrator is not female. Maybe later we'll find out that the reason for the narrator, but this felt out of place.

Given the maps and stylisation choices chosen by the author, should one choose to read this they're better off with the actual text.

26 of 30 people found this review helpful

great story

can't wait for next book first one was fantastic and a must read for fantasy fans

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

I liked it more than I thought I would

Nevernight was one of those books that take you by surprise. It had good ratings, so I thought, it should prove entertaining, at least. But I found it much more than entertaining. It was thoughtful, seductive, mysterious, and funny in its prose. Mia is a strong and resilient character. I immediately liked her zeal for getting what she wants. There is a love interest, but it isn't all consuming. Sexual tension exists between Mia and Trig, but it is not distracting. Mia merely sees him for who he is and both loves and hates it. It's a friendship of convenience at first, then morphs into something different.

The story constantly moves and builds then comes to a climax at the end. There is resolution (no cliff hanger) but you feel compelled to move on. I really like the way Jay Kristoff writes. He has a refreshing style (for which I cannot articulate). It's simply.....poetic. Eager for Godsgrave.

8 of 9 people found this review helpful

Really great listen!~

I loved it. Love love loved.

The setting, the sort of Rome/Venice-feeling city of Godsgrave, and then the dark, cavernous Red Church was really well described and thus easy for me to imagine. This world of three suns which barely ever set was really well thought out and fantastically written. The characters were well done and I really cheered for Mia. There's something to be said about cheering for a little girl to get her revenge on those who have hurt her and her family. The use of flashbacks to tell Mia's story was well done. I loved her more and more as we went. I love a foul mouthed rogue, and oh daughters... Mia has a mouth on her. She is the queen of sass. Things like "I appear to have misplaced the f***s I give for what you think" and the like which, once again, made me latch right on to this book and hug it and squeeze it. Good, sweary, sasstacular humour is win. A sassy shadow daemon for Mia to match wits with made it even better. So many hearts .>).

Finally, I must say that the last 1/3 of this book nearly broke me. Gods above and below, the emotional roller coaster that was. I very, very nearly had to give this one up, not because it was bad, but because I got way, way too invested in these characters, and their backstories and trials and tribulations just... ruined my feels. Everything after that dropped a bomb on them. Demolished them. I haven't been this affected by a book emotionally since Red Rising. The combination of the story itself and Holter Graham's presentation of it had me in tears (at work again FML with added Awkward Workplace Sobbing >.>).

It's just fantastic. 10 million stars out of 5.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

What a ride!!

Great book! Beautifully written , smart, clever, imaginative!
Enjoyed the performance of the audible book-
A little slow at the beginning and still not sure if Im on the right side or the wrong one...

7 of 8 people found this review helpful

Surprisingly Good Tale...

Wasn't expecting much from this tbh. Especially as it was billed as a YA book. However, I'm thoroughly coverted. It's a lovely, flowing and captivating tale. However, it did take me a little bit to get used to the narrator's way of reading (he has wierd "sing song" way he phrases the words) but either I got used to it very quickly or he eased up on his peculiar reading style. Don't let that put you off though. The story starts off slowly and becomes a page turner before you know it! This books definately stands out from the sea of mediocre fantasy books out there. I was impressed with it. Definately give it a go if you are hesitating.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Slow start compelling story

Was slow and confusing to start but morphed into a brilliant book. Narrator was excellent. Can't wait for the next book.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

fantastic read

was a bit slow to start with and a little confusing at the beginning but it's seriously makes up for it in the rest of the book fantastic storyline of twists and Turns look forward to reading the second book seriously worth a listen worth every penny

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

can't wait for book 2!!

brilliant book , cracking story, colourful characters (and language 😁) and really well narrated. Couldn't wait to see what happened but didn't want it to end, can't wait for book 2!!

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Amazing

Excellent and exciting with well thought out characters. Couldn't stop listening! Can't wait for the next instalment

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Very good story in a familiar world

I loved this book and couldn't wait to finish it.

The story follows familiar tropes in the world of assassination, gods and magic but does so in an engaging way with characters that you want to know more about. It leads you onwards but finishes the first book cleanly. I can't wait for the next one.

Good narration, voices are appealing and he handles the noted text well.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Unexpectedly Brilliant Book

The book starts with us watching the pivotal event in the life of a 10 year old girl. I found it a little confusing at the early chapters when we slipped from periods when the girl was ten and then fourteen and then sixteen and back again.

The development of intriguing characters, strong writing with an almost prose strength of language in some parts of the book was much more than I had expected. There is a fair amount of action and emotional input in the powerful writing. I must say that in the later end of the story there is a scene inside a prison and I actually shed a tear, not something I often do when reading.

It is a book I could recommend as I thoroughly enjoyed the story and cannot wait for book two.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

Promising But.....

To begin with, I'm probably not the target audience, not being a 'Young Adult', so feel free to ignore this.
The story was promising, like dropping Harry Potter into Game of Thrones.
I liked the way it jumped around in time and didn't find that remotely confusing.
The narrator was super, adding an edge of snark.
The whole thing would have been great but for the prolonged sex scenes. Yawn.
If this had been a film I would have been throwing popcorn at the screen and yelling for them to get on with the story.
I know sex is a major thing for 'Young Adults' but having it narrated is more voyeurism than vicarious. Eeech! Also dull and uninteresting. GET ON WITH THE STORY!
If it doesn't improve I'm returning it. Sex I can get, assassin schooling is what I need.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Good find, spoilt only by the overblown sex scenes

Great racy story a trifle ott and the sex scenes were laughable. Great fantasy though very imaginative. Look forward to more if they cut back on the throbbing and pulsating

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Girl on a mission

It took me a little while to get into this but then I loved it. Jay Kristoff's prose is dense with florid descriptions and it was a style that had to grow on me. I also have a to get over my cultural prejudice that an American accent is unsuitable for a fantasy world that is not obviously modern. Once I'd got used to that, I could appreciate Holter Graham's narration which is excellent.His characters are all clearly differentiated and appropriate and his pacing is good.

Mia's back story is gradually revealed interspersed with the unfolding present of her time at the school learning how to be an assassin and planning how to avenge her family. So, yes, there is a magical school and, no, it's nothing like Hogwarts. Can everyone just stop comparing all magical schools and gifted novice narratives to HP. It's a story trope that existed long before HP and will continue long after. Bleugh.

Anyway, it's a cracking adventure tale with added murder mystery. There is lots of violence, some of it quite gruesome, and sex so if you are unhappy at lengthy descriptions of oral pleasure then you might want to skip a few bits. There is also much sweary swearing. The city of Mia's birth has a Venetian feel and reminded me of Scott Lynch's Camorr. It does make a change from the usual medieval-ish setting of lots of fantasy series. In fact, if you like to compare books to other books, I think the Gentleman Bastards series has a similar feel.