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thenoboshow's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Incest, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
dalek_caan's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
It took me about 200 pages to get into the book, and I kind of wish it ended before like the last 50. It was a really cool world and witty writing, and honestly the cat was the best character.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
nicxlo's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Che viaggio.
La scrittura di Kristoff è uno dei punti più forti di Nevernight, tagliente, diretta e crudele. Proprio come la storia di Mia.
L’autore a mio parere è riuscito a pieno a creare il worldbuilding, a partire dal linguaggio e i vari termini usati per indicare il passare del tempo fino ad arrivare alle imprecazioni (es: bisso e sangue).
Non ho letto tanti fantasy durante la mia vita ma questo è uno di quelli che più mi è sembrato reale e ben costruito.
Non ho dato le 5 stelle solamente per due punti:
Il primo è il finale, trovo che Jay Kristoff potesse trovare un modo migliore di invogliare la lettura del secondo volume.
Il secondo è la caratterizzazione di alcuni personaggi. Se in Mia, Tric e altri personaggi vedo una grande scrittura, ce ne sono altri invece che nonostante siano ben importanti per il flusso della storia mi sono sembrati non tanto profondi e caratterizzati come altri. Può essere e anzi spero che con i prossimi volumi vengano approfonditi meglio.
In conclusione ho apprezzato moltissimo tutta l’esperienza e sicuramente contuerò la trilogia.
La scrittura di Kristoff è uno dei punti più forti di Nevernight, tagliente, diretta e crudele. Proprio come la storia di Mia.
L’autore a mio parere è riuscito a pieno a creare il worldbuilding, a partire dal linguaggio e i vari termini usati per indicare il passare del tempo fino ad arrivare alle imprecazioni (es: bisso e sangue).
Non ho letto tanti fantasy durante la mia vita ma questo è uno di quelli che più mi è sembrato reale e ben costruito.
Non ho dato le 5 stelle solamente per due punti:
Il primo è il finale, trovo che Jay Kristoff potesse trovare un modo migliore di invogliare la lettura del secondo volume.
Il secondo è la caratterizzazione di alcuni personaggi. Se in Mia, Tric e altri personaggi vedo una grande scrittura, ce ne sono altri invece che nonostante siano ben importanti per il flusso della storia mi sono sembrati non tanto profondi e caratterizzati come altri. Può essere e anzi spero che con i prossimi volumi vengano approfonditi meglio.
In conclusione ho apprezzato moltissimo tutta l’esperienza e sicuramente contuerò la trilogia.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Murder, and War
stephaniemcuervo's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Rape, Vomit, and Pregnancy
littki's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Drug use, Incest, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Vomit, Grief, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism
nandakandabooks's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
While the voice actor did a great job I barely finished this book due to the plot.
It was finished only because it was sth. to listen to during walks.
Plot quite predictable and no suprises on my side.
I liked the concept and the shadow animals but I am not intruged to continue with the series.
Also it continued quite some unecessary detailed sex and cruelty scenes.
It was finished only because it was sth. to listen to during walks.
Plot quite predictable and no suprises on my side.
I liked the concept and the shadow animals but I am not intruged to continue with the series.
Also it continued quite some unecessary detailed sex and cruelty scenes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Rape, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
jesus_d's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Blood
Minor: Racial slurs, Slavery, Torture, and Vomit
ienbdri's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Sexual violence, and Slavery
itsbridgette's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I really liked this book. It’s not perfect by any means. I did find the footnotes annoying and skipped most of it. I also found the sexual scenes in here unnecessary since those involved are supposed to be minors (late teens). I like myself some good smut but not when it involves teens. It’s kinda gross actually. Buuuuut with that being said, I really liked the characters and the story. The action scenes are kind of wild and unrealistic, but that’s exactly what I was looking for when I selected this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Vomit
Minor: Rape
nikolas_kolinski's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
- Nevernight - review
Overall, "Nevernight" is a well-done book: excellent world-building, unconventional characters and with the characteristics of everything that could be considered a good novel.
But all these features remain only embellishments, trivial tasks carried out to conceal (often unsuccessfully) a plot without any spine and any essence, characters with banal motivations and flat characterisations, who appear alternative only to diversify from the prototype of clichés already seen numerous times.
The first chapters are confusing and it is not easy to understand what is happening. However, as you get used to the frequent flashbacks and pay attention, the plot becomes more comprehensible, despite some gaps and the use of neologisms that are almost never explained.
The side notes are interesting, perhaps present in excessive quantity but certainly useful for understanding the history and conformation of the world created by Kristoff, as well as the customs of its inhabitants. The ironic undertone present in the work (and often contained in the aforementioned margin notes) is at times appreciable and entertaining for the reader, but at other times uses a childish and almost stupid humour, breaking the rhythm of the reading.
For the most part the writing style is just trying to be really edgy and it always seems so uselessly melodramatic and so overwritten.
Some secondary characters although, even if poorly characterised, manage to be interesting for their strangeness and sometimes even manage to entertain the reader: I immediately think of Daniio the Fat (owner of the inn where Mia goes after her first murder and after the boat trip to Ultima Spes) , who certainly looks funny because of his speech and his behaviour and lightens the reading experience in a positive way, or the chronicler Aelius, a ghost addicted to cigarettes trapped within the walls of a castle and forced to work for his entire life as a librarian .
However, the character of Mia, the protagonist, is not particularly characterised, definitely sexualised and mostly follows the line of the classic 'chosen one' found in many fantasy stories, though the author tries hard to make her seem like an original and totally different protagonist from the others, sometimes even excessively so.
Similarly, the plot may appear interesting and the reading may be smooth, but the whole thing is simply banal and predictable.
An excellent addition, however, is the character of Mister Kindly (the tenebris, a cat made of shadow, who accompanies Mia on her journey and helps her along the way ).
Let's move on to the plot: undoubtedly the weakest point of the book.
The book is not bad and the world-building is certainly good, but the plot is trivially average (if not even a little below) and the author's attempts to magnify the story and make it an epic feat (which it is not at all) simply seem excessive and unnecessary.
Good, however, are the descriptions of the action scenes and the relationships between the various characters, even if they present numerous clichés and are quite marginal.
Great credit must be given to the final part of the book, in which the action scenes are well described and the final twist (Ashlin and Osrik are actually spies in the name of Itreya and fight against the Red Church ) is unexpected.
For better or for worse although, the protagonist always remains a teenager and is characterised by youthful behaviour, so there is no point in painting her as a heroine (or anti-heroine) with a jagged past. Our protagonist has suffered a lot and certainly has a strong personality, but her characterisation certainly does not go in depth.
Despite their poor characterisation, however, I find it senseless to eliminate characters with a lot of potential (such as Tric, who endures many misadventures, but apparently dies due to a simple, unexpected stab ) just because their ties with the protagonist are now scarcely usable or evolvable without repeating dynamics already seen.
Moreover, I found myself rooting for the villains several times in the book:they have certainly unjustly harmed and hurt Mia's family and many other kids and are not exactly positive figures, but compared to the Red Church, a group of fanatical murderers who are willing to torture their pupils and kill innocents; the Luminatii Itreyani, even if corrupt and cruel, almost appear as the heroes of this story.
It is also strange how Mia asks so many questions about the sudden deaths within the Red Church and questions its interest in finding the murderer, but accepts without great reservations the deaths of some of the Red Church's pupils and the inhuman torture to which all the pupils are continuously subjected .
The theme of revenge, as mentioned earlier, is the key theme (and the only real theme present) of the book:I only hope that in the next volumes (which I will probably not read, though) Mia will realise that fighting against the republic of Itreya and being part of the Red Church cause her pain in the same way. Perhaps it is necessary to accept the past, instead of becoming part of an endless war that will have no winner .
All in all, there is a very good basic work, but it all seems to be just a well-executed task, which follows the rules to try to attract the reader but which, in my case, has no effect.
It lacks that something extra, that hint of brilliance; no doubt the author can be creative, but overall, for a book almost 500 pages long, the plot should be beyond gripping.
But this is not the case in "Nevernight", where every detail is well constructed, but never justified, never motivated, where there is no logical engine to kick-start the plot, which, except for a banal quest for revenge, does not really seem to have much motivation.
The characters also appear to have sufficient characterisation, but which never dares, never attempts to go higher.
The style may also be fluent, but by the end of the reading one wonders whether this has really served any purpose. It is not a book with great pretensions, of course, but it should at least seem useful and sensible and not make me think it was pointless to read it.
I recognise the merits attributed to the author by many readers, and I also recognise that perhaps this book was not for me, but I still reiterate a lack of depth in the whole: everything tries to be embellished and often even manages to be interesting, but nothing more, because the core of the plot is absent, the cause that moves all the events unfolded is simply trivial and insufficient.
In "Nevernight", Jay Kristoff appears to be an excellent author, with an unusual and creative writing style and numerous skills, but it seems that his talents stop at mere aesthetic characteristics: there seems to be no real motive behind the writing of this work, which, minus the ornaments and pageantry, appears banal and dull, without really any good reason to be told or to be read.
But all these features remain only embellishments, trivial tasks carried out to conceal (often unsuccessfully) a plot without any spine and any essence, characters with banal motivations and flat characterisations, who appear alternative only to diversify from the prototype of clichés already seen numerous times.
The first chapters are confusing and it is not easy to understand what is happening. However, as you get used to the frequent flashbacks and pay attention, the plot becomes more comprehensible, despite some gaps and the use of neologisms that are almost never explained.
The side notes are interesting, perhaps present in excessive quantity but certainly useful for understanding the history and conformation of the world created by Kristoff, as well as the customs of its inhabitants. The ironic undertone present in the work (and often contained in the aforementioned margin notes) is at times appreciable and entertaining for the reader, but at other times uses a childish and almost stupid humour, breaking the rhythm of the reading.
For the most part the writing style is just trying to be really edgy and it always seems so uselessly melodramatic and so overwritten.
Some secondary characters although, even if poorly characterised, manage to be interesting for their strangeness and sometimes even manage to entertain the reader:
However, the character of Mia, the protagonist, is not particularly characterised, definitely sexualised and mostly follows the line of the classic 'chosen one' found in many fantasy stories, though the author tries hard to make her seem like an original and totally different protagonist from the others, sometimes even excessively so.
Similarly, the plot may appear interesting and the reading may be smooth, but the whole thing is simply banal and predictable.
An excellent addition, however, is the character of Mister Kindly (
Let's move on to the plot: undoubtedly the weakest point of the book.
The book is not bad and the world-building is certainly good, but the plot is trivially average (if not even a little below) and the author's attempts to magnify the story and make it an epic feat (which it is not at all) simply seem excessive and unnecessary.
Good, however, are the descriptions of the action scenes and the relationships between the various characters, even if they present numerous clichés and are quite marginal.
Great credit must be given to the final part of the book, in which the action scenes are well described and the final twist (
For better or for worse although, the protagonist always remains a teenager and is characterised by youthful behaviour, so there is no point in painting her as a heroine (or anti-heroine) with a jagged past. Our protagonist has suffered a lot and certainly has a strong personality, but her characterisation certainly does not go in depth.
Despite their poor characterisation, however, I find it senseless to eliminate characters with a lot of potential (
Moreover, I found myself rooting for the villains several times in the book:
It is also strange how Mia asks so many questions about the sudden deaths within the Red Church and questions its interest in finding the murderer, but accepts without great reservations the deaths of some of the Red Church's pupils and the inhuman torture to which all the pupils are continuously subjected
The theme of revenge, as mentioned earlier, is the key theme (and the only real theme present) of the book:
All in all, there is a very good basic work, but it all seems to be just a well-executed task, which follows the rules to try to attract the reader but which, in my case, has no effect.
It lacks that something extra, that hint of brilliance; no doubt the author can be creative, but overall, for a book almost 500 pages long, the plot should be beyond gripping.
But this is not the case in "Nevernight", where every detail is well constructed, but never justified, never motivated, where there is no logical engine to kick-start the plot, which, except for a banal quest for revenge, does not really seem to have much motivation.
The characters also appear to have sufficient characterisation, but which never dares, never attempts to go higher.
The style may also be fluent, but by the end of the reading one wonders whether this has really served any purpose. It is not a book with great pretensions, of course, but it should at least seem useful and sensible and not make me think it was pointless to read it.
I recognise the merits attributed to the author by many readers, and I also recognise that perhaps this book was not for me, but I still reiterate a lack of depth in the whole: everything tries to be embellished and often even manages to be interesting, but nothing more, because the core of the plot is absent, the cause that moves all the events unfolded is simply trivial and insufficient.
In "Nevernight", Jay Kristoff appears to be an excellent author, with an unusual and creative writing style and numerous skills, but it seems that his talents stop at mere aesthetic characteristics: there seems to be no real motive behind the writing of this work, which, minus the ornaments and pageantry, appears banal and dull, without really any good reason to be told or to be read.
Never flinch" A cold whisper in her ear. "Never fear. And never, ever forget.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Torture
Minor: Vomit and War