Review: Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath. Now she's returned--to her old life, her family, her boyfriend--before she's banished back to the underworld . . . this time forever. She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these precious months forgetting the Everneath and trying to reconnect with her boyfriend, Jack, the person most devastated by her disappearance--and the one person she loves more than anything. But there's just one problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who enticed her to the Everneath in the first place, has followed Nikki home. Cole wants to take over the throne in the underworld and is convinced Nikki is the key to making it happen. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back, this time as his queen.

As Nikki's time on the Surface draws to a close and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she is forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's queen.(GoodReads)

• Level of Absurdity: 4. Now This is a LOW grade for an absurd premise—that Nikki has been snuggling with an immortal for the last 100 years—but I was happy to see that this book was a gritty take on “prince charming”—in other words, running off into an alternate paranormal universe does not mean everyone suddenly loves you/wants you to be their queen. Wait a second....never mind.....ABSURDITY=9.
• Level of Originality: Out of paranormal genres Greek myth comes in second to last (fairies are obvi last) in the list of stories I want to read, but Everneath world building is actually pretty satisfying. The darkness and danger of the tunnels was well done. Yikes! Choking on dirt for eternity sounds terrible.
• Level of Paranormal Romance: 8.No holds barred paranormal love triangle. I didn't see the appeal of Cole but am not sure the author even wanted the reader to....except it makes it harder to believe Nikki would go with him to the Everneath...Anywho, Jack sure is cute in his anguished-tattooed-boy -meets-quarterback persona. What is with my love of fictional boys with tattoos? (Heeyyyyy Kaleb and Seth)
• Level of Harry-Potter-ness: 3. This low grade reflects my frustration with the format. The flashbacks were frustrating. Instead of building suspense as to what happened to push Nikki into going with Cole I found them annoying. They slowed the story and I was all “oh please, just tell me already.” This format encouraged skimming. I would never to that to JK Rowling-- her books are meant to be savored.