Mundie Moms

Friday, August 12, 2016

NEVERNIGHT by Jay Kristoff / Blog Tour: Book Review / Giveaway


Hello and welcome to the last stop in the NEVERNIGHT blog tour, hosted by Rock Star blog tours. I'm thrilled to feature Jay Kristoff's newest release, today on Mundie Moms. Below you'll find out more about NEVERNIGHT, my review, the book trailer, and a giveaway! Check it out below.

ABOUT THE BOOK


By: Jay Kristoff
Published by: Thomas Dunne Books
Released on: August 9th, 2016
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | iBooks
Add it to Goodreads
I received an arc of this book to review from the publisher, in exchange for my honest review

The first in a new fantasy series from the New York Times bestselling author.
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, Mia is apprenticed to the deadliest flock of assassins in the entire Republic—the Red Church. If she bests her fellow students in contests of steel, poison and the subtle arts, she’ll be inducted among the Blades of the Lady of Blessed Murder, and one step closer to the vengeance she desires. But a killer is loose within the Church’s halls, the bloody secrets of Mia’s past return to haunt her, and a plot to bring down the entire congregation is unfolding in the shadows she so loves.
Will she even survive to initiation, let alone have her revenge?
Dark fantasy, magic, a touch of romance, and a strong female protagonist who is also an assassin, NEVERNIGHT is a book I have been looking forward to reading. Seriously, what's not to like about a character who's not afraid of the person she is, who's snarky, beyond stubborn, and could eliminate you in no time. 

Mia is character who's definitely got nerves of steel! This girl has been through hell, and back, and then went to hell again. She does not shy away from gruesome, or her deadly mission. She's the kind of girl that will do what ever it takes to accomplish her task. I have to admit, she's not a character I related to, however, I loved that she's not the kind of person you want to tick off, while at the same time I may have laughed a few times at her snarky, overly stubborn personality. One of the things I really admired her, is her will power of steel. Nothing deterred her from what she set out to do, and boy does she know how to work the system within her dark, dangerous world. 


One of my favorite characters, okay two of my favorite characters aren't even human. They are a horse and a cat. These two characters are perfectly written into Mia's story. Oh my word the name of the horse is one I couldn't help but laugh at, and this horse gives Mia a run for her money. The other, seriously what is there not to love about a cat, who's also a shadow.... that's all I'm going to say, because this is much more to the cat than what I'm going to tell you here. Another thing I liked about this book and it's characters, is the banter! I love a good banter between characters, and there is definitely plenty of that. 


The world building is awesome! It's rich, and descriptive, making it incredibly easy to picture Mia's world. Yes, Mia lives in a very brutal, dark world, but Kristoff gave it a very ancient, medieval feel and I loved it. It really set the tone for this book. The world building may have been my favorite element of this story. There's so much to it. 


The writing style for this book is very different from really any book I've read before. Honesty, I really liked it. It gave the book a distinct voice, and feel. This book also has footnotes! Okay I may have been fascinated with the footnotes more than I should have. Instead of hindering the progression of the story, I felt that the footnotes added more details, and background into the story. Being a fan of book quotes, I liked some of the quotes I found through out the book. My favorite is: "Never flinch. Never fear. And never, ever forget."


Being a huge fan of fantasy, and not being afraid to read something a little darker, I'll admit that this book was a bit too dark, and gruesome for me. I even glossed over a few things. It's not that I didn't know what I was getting into when it comes to reading a book by Kristoff. He doesn't shy way from the gritty. His writing is real, and he doesn't sugar coat anything, and I admire that about his writing. He definitely does not  hold back in this book. He literally goes for it, and gives you all the gore, darkness, and hardcore assassinage (I don't think that's a word, but it is now), that make up Mia's world. 


Do not do what I did, and go into this book thinking it's YA, because it's not. Between the first few pages, and the tone through out the entire book, you'll know it's more adult than YA. I have to say, that opening parallel scene was, well I'll just say it thrusts readers right into Mia's world. Though Mia may be a YA character, this book had much more of an adult tone and voice to it. My downfall with this book was my ignorance in trying to review it as a YA book, which is a totally different rating scale for me than if I reviewed it as an adult book. 


If you're a fan of dark fantasy, than this book is for you! 

*This is a book that has a really dark tone to it, language, a lot of f-bombs, gruesome murders, violence, and detailed sex scenes, which may not be suitable for younger YA readers.


Book Trailer


ABOUT THE AUTHOR



Jay Kristoff is a New York Times and international bestselling author of science fiction and fantasy. He grew up in the second most isolated capital city on earth and fled at his earliest convenience, although he’s been known to trek back for weddings of the particularly nice and funerals of the particularly wealthy. He spent most of his formative years locked in his bedroom with piles of books, or gathered around dimly-lit tables rolling polyhedral dice. Being the holder of an Arts degree, he has no education to speak of.

His LOTUS WAR trilogy was critically acclaimed in Kirkus and Publishers Weekly, nominated for the David Gemmell Morningstar and Legend awards and won the 2014 Aurealis Award. Jay’s new series, the SciFi thriller THE ILLUMINAE FILES, was co-authored with Amie Kaufman. Book 1, ILLUMINAE, became a New York Times and international bestseller, was named among the Kirkus, Amazon and YALSA Best Books of 2015 and won the 2016 Aurealis Award and an ABIA Book of the Year award. ILLUMINAE is currently slated to be published in twenty five countries, and film rights have been acquired by Brad Pitt and Plan B Entertainment.
Jay’s new fantasy series, THE NEVERNIGHT CHRONICLE, commences with book 1, NEVERNIGHT, from St Martins Press/Thomas Dunne Books and Harper Voyager in 2016. A new YA series, LIFEL1K3 has also been acquired by Knopf/Random House Kids, and commences publication in 2018. Jay is as surprised about all this as you are. He is represented by Josh Adams at Adams Literary.
Jay is 6’7 and has approximately 13,030 days to live. He abides in Melbourne with his secret agent kung-fu assassin wife, and the world’s laziest Jack Russell.

He does not believe in happy endings. 


Find Jay: Website | Twitter | Facebook |Instagram | Goodreads

ENTER TO WIN


5 winners will receive a finished copy of NEVERNIGHT! To enter, please fill out the form below. US residents only.

FOLLOW THE TOUR
8/1/2016- Dark Faerie Tales- Interview
8/2/2016- Once Upon a TwilightReview
8/3/2016- Supernatural SnarkInterview
8/4/2016- NerdophilesReview
8/5/2016- The Book CellarInterview

8/8/2016- MEREADALOTReview
8/9/2016- Ticket to AnywhereInterview
8/10/2016- The Young FolksReview
8/11/2016- Two Chicks on BooksInterview
8/12/2016- Mundie MomsReview


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