Nevernight: Jay Kristoff review

Nevernight

by Jay Kristoff
Rating: 4 Star

Nevernight is set in a world that rarely sees darkness, mainly due to its 3 Suns.

It's a world of political skullduggery (I haven't used that word in ages), assassins, magic, a shadow in the form of a Cat called Mister Kindly, and a young girl called Mia Corvere who is forced to witness her father's execution.

On that day, Mia swore to avenge the 3 people who had plotted against her and her family.


Fast forward a few years and we follow Mia through her training at The Red Church of assassins, which brings to mind many comparisons with Hogwarts (as many other commentators noted).

Mia is driven to become a fully fledged assassin or 'Blade' so that she can finally take her revenge. In the meantime, she has to pass her exams, deal with a new relationship with another assassin and try to avoid getting killed by the other students.

Once I got into this book, I really enjoyed it but it took me a few chapters. 

I can see a few others reviewers not finish the book, but I would encourage you to keep going until at least chapter 3 before deciding if this is for you. Kristoff has pulled together lots of different influences to create Nevernight and my biggest problem at the start of the book was that it kept reminding me of those other stories.

For instance, I have just finished watching the latest Game of Thrones and for me Mia is just Ayra Stark, on a quest for vengeance. She even has the same weapon. The school for assassins conjures up Hogwarts in the mind, and the plot line of Light versus Dark conjured up chunks of Star Wars.

Having said that, these are by no means bad comparisons or influences in a story and Nevernight more than holds up in its own right. Like all science fiction and fantasy novels, this is going to be a 3 part tale so the ending of course leaves you waiting for the next one.

Overall, a really enjoyable read with murder, magic, assassins, and sex. 

Parents, you might want to read this book first before giving it to younger readers.

This book is released on the 11th August 2016.


I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.