A review by t4vs
Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.0

"Never flinch. Never fear. And never, ever, forget"

I was kinda receous for reading this book. It is not the kind of fantasy i usually read (YA fantasy, this is a NA dark fantasy). It is gory, VIOLENT (emphasys on that, seriously, this is the most violent book i've ever read), it is not gentle, and definitely, not cute or pretty. It has a lot of blood, descriptive scenes, and i already said that it has a lot bood? THERE IS A LOT OF BLOOD. But, guess what? I liked it.  

So, let's start on the things that i did like:
1. The writing style: never seen footnotes on a fiction/fantasy book. In the beginning i thought that they were annoying, but i ended up liking them. Saw a lot of people saying that this annoyed them so much that they DNFed it. It is not for everyone, but, for me, it worked really well.
2. The worldbuilding: Excellent. I'm serious, this is good. The footnotes add up to it in really good way. It has politics and politic organization, its own history, countries with culture and religion.
3. Plot: Woul i say that it looks like dark Throne of Glass? Eh, maybe. Yes and no, specifically. The "i'm an assassin and both of my parents are dead and i am being trained by a random man that is kinda of a paternal figure" kinda trope is similar to this YA series, but this is NA. But the plot it is still interesting.
4. The shadow cat, Mr. Kingly: i have to create a bullet point just for him and Mia's powers beacause they are SO COOL. You mean, a cat? That feeds from her fear? Yes.

And now, the things i did not like (actually it is just one, but that bothered me so so so much, and i hated it):
1. Mia's sexualization: I feel that i have to talk about this because in some parts it made me feel really uncomfortable as a woman myself. She is 16. A minor. And the way Jay Cristoff describes her in some parts... ugh. And don't get me started on the (cringy) spicy scenes. The opening scene is one. This is why this book is not perfect in my opinion. Really, what was the author thinking? That it would be okay to describe a 16 year old with borderline unappropriate adjectives? It disgusted me and i will not turn a blind eye for it. (Oh, and she smokes! wow how sexy and edgy)

Overall, that's it. It had all the things to be perfect and be a five star. If i ignored the Mia issue it would be a five star. But i can't and won't. What a shame, really. But, still, it is a good book with excellent worldbuilding and plot quality. Would recommend it? Yes, go for it, but be aware of the problematics of the author. After buying it i discovered the issues with Jay Kristoff and i'm alerting you guys too. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings