Review: Darkdawn - Jay Kristoff

UK Cover

From bestselling and award-winning author Jay Kristoff comes the thrilling and heart-breaking conclusion to The Nevernight Chronicle.

Mia Corvere, gladiatii, escaped slave and infamous assassin, is on the run.

After the greatest games in Godsgrave’s history ended with the most audacious murders in the history of the Itreyan Republic, Mia finds herself pursued by Blades of the Red Church and soldiers of the Luminatii legion. She may never escape the City of Bridges and Bones alive.

Her mentor Mercurio is now in the clutches of her enemies. Her own family wishes her dead. And her nemesis, Consul Julius Scaeva, stands but a breath from total dominance over the Republic.

But beneath the city, a dark secret awaits. Together with her lover Ashlinn, brother Jonnen and a mysterious benefactor returned from beyond the veil of death, she must undertake a perilous journey across the Republic, seeking the final answer to the riddle of her life. Truedark approaches.

Night is falling on the Republic for perhaps the final time.

The Nevernight Chronicles:
Nevernight
Godsgrave
Darkdawn

Visit Jay Kristoff's website for more information

Review:
I've been shouting about this series from the rooftops since I first read Nevernight in 2016, it's one of my all time favourites and one that I own multiple copies of in various signed limited edition hardbacks. In fact I had preordered 3 different copies of Darkdawn long before it's actual release (US signed first edition as well as the Goldsboro & Waterstones signed editions with sprayed edges) and that's not counting the fact I ended up buying the audiobook too as I'd just finished listening to the first 2 books for the first time and was really impressed with the narrator Holter Graham. Anyway, I was totally expecting this book to be another 5 star read, I went in prepared to love it so I can't tell you how much it pains me to only rate it a 3.

The story actually got off to a great start. It kicks off immediately after the end of Godsgrave with Mia having just killed her two greatest enemies in the middle of the arena and managing to escape with her younger brother Jonnen. She has plans to meet up with Ashlinn and Mercurio so that they can escape the city together but things go downhill very quickly when she realises the extent of the Red Church's betrayal. Instead Mia and Ash are now on the run with a familiar face from their past, Mia is the most wanted criminal in the empire and instead of getting the joyful reunion she wanted with Jonnen she's having to hold him prisoner to stop him running back to his father. I'm not really going to talk much more about the plot than that but it definitely gives us an explosive start to being back in Mia's world.

Unfortunately for me it went downhill from there. I've never been able to forgive Ashlinn for her actions in the first book so I couldn't be less on board with her relationship with Mia. I think if Mia had moved on from Tric with any other character in the series I'd have been sad but I'd have got over it but I just can't find it in myself to root for these two, especially considering what happened at the end of Godsgrave! So much of this story was focused on the romance and to be honest I was bored, it seemed like the rest of the plot revolved around excuses to give Mia and Ash more smut scenes and I honestly never expected to be saying this book had too much sex in it. For a good half of the book I actually found myself getting bored of Mia's story, so much so that I kept falling asleep whenever I tried listening to the audiobook and had to switch over to reading one of my hardbacks instead.

The pace did pick up again towards the end but it really wasn't enough to make up for my boredom in the middle. Darkdawn was completely missing all of the twists from the first two books, everything felt totally predictable and the ending was nothing unexpected or particularly exciting. I'm still a huge fan of Jay Kristoff and he remains an auto-buy author for me but I think it's highly unlikely I'll be reading this particular book again no matter how much I loved the first two instalments.

Source: Purchased

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Review: Godsgrave - Jay Kristoff

UK Cover

From the bestselling author, Jay Kristoff, comes the second book in the Nevernight Chronicle.

Conquer your fear, conquer the world

Mia Corvere, destroyer of empires, has found her place among the Blades of Our Lady of Blessed Murder, but many in the Red Church ministry do not believe she has earned it.

Her position is precarious, and she's still no closer to exacting revenge for the brutal death of her family. But after a deadly confrontation with an old enemy, Mia begins to suspect the motives of the Red Church itself.

When it is announced that Consul Scaeva and Cardinal Duomo will be making a rare public appearance at the conclusion of the grand games in Godsgrave, Mia defies the Church and sells herself into slavery for a chance to fulfill the promise she made on the day she lost everything.

Upon the sands of the arena, Mia finds new allies, bitter rivals, and more questions about her strange affinity for the shadows. But as conspiracies unfold, secrets are revealed and the body count rises within the collegium walls, Mia will be forced to choose between her loyalties and her revenge.

The Nevernight Chronicles:
Nevernight
Godsgrave
Darkdawn

Visit Jay Kristoff's website for more information

Review:
Nevernight was my favourite book of 2016 so it's no surprise that my expectations for the sequel were incredibly high, especially as I read Godsgrave immediately after rereading the first book! I wasn't sure that it would be possible for Jay Kristoff to top the level of awesome he'd already achieved but boy was I proved wrong and this book was off the charts epic. It was so impossibly good that I've been struggling for weeks to write any kind of sensible review for it but I can guarantee it's on my favourite books of 2017 list.

While the first book was all about Mia's training as she fought to earn a place as a Blade for the Red Church the sequel is a whole different ball game as she focuses much more on getting revenge for the deaths of her family. Mia spends much of this story undercover as a slave and fighting with a group of Gladiatii in the arena. We're introduced to a whole new bunch of characters and I loved them all for different reasons, there was the fatherly Sidonius who keeps Mia's secrets and is the joker of the group, brother and sister team, Byern and Bryn, who are champion chariot riders, Bladesinger, a kickass female warrior who is even better with a blade than Mia, and Furian, the champion who holds himself above the others and doesn't like the way Mia wants to take his crown. They're all trained by ex-champion Arkades and a young servant called Maggot is their healer. The group are owned by Dona Leona who is trying to prove herself to her father and the other nobles, she wants to make a name for herself and she doesn't care what price her gladiatii have to pay for that. It was so hard not to become attached to most of these characters but if you read the first book then you should already be wary about that because you know Jay Kristoff isn't afraid to kill major cast members so expect to have your heart ripped to shreds again here.

This entire series has been a complete rollercoaster, nothing is ever quite what it seems, there are betrayals within betrayals, friends become enemies and enemies can become allies. It's impossible to know who to trust and even our main character Mia has moments where she does things you would rather she didn't. Overall I just love Mia though, she's so fierce and determined to avenge her family and absolutely nothing will sway her from her goal. My other favourite characters include Mr Kindly and Eclipse, the two daemons that accompany Mia everywhere thanks to her darkin powers, the two spend a lot of time bickering but they are both devoted to Mia and are a huge help when she's in danger. The series is brutal, bloody and violent, it's full of dark humour and heartbreak but one thing you'll never be is bored. The Nevernight Chronicles is a firm favourite and I'm already desperate to get my hands on the final book, after that ending I have no idea what to expect next but I definitely know it's going to be one hell of a ride!

Source: Received from Harper Voyager in exchange for an honest review

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Review: Nevernight - Jay Kristoff

UK Cover

A wonderful new epic fantasy set in the dark heart of an academy for assassins.

Destined to destroy empires, Mia Corvere is only ten years old when she is given her first lesson in death.

Six years later, the child raised in shadows takes her first steps towards keeping the promise she made on the day she lost everything.

But the chance to strike against such powerful enemies will be fleeting, so if she is to have her revenge, Mia must become a weapon without equal. She must prove herself against the deadliest of friends and enemies, and survive the tutelage of murderers, liars and daemons at the heart of a murder cult.

The Red Church is no ordinary school, but Mia is no ordinary student.
The shadows love her.
And they drink her fear.

The Nevernight Chronicles:
Nevernight
Godsgrave
Darkdawn

Visit Jay Kristoff's website for more information

Review:
Sometimes you read a book that is so amazing that you find it too intimidating to even attempt to write a review for it because you just know you won't be able to do it justice. That is what has kept me from writing this for such a long time because Nevernight is one of those books. I honestly haven't been this excited for a new series since I first picked up Red Rising and anyone who knows me knows I'm a super fan of those books! Jay Kristoff has totally outdone himself here and there is no doubt in my mind that Nevernight is my top fantasy read of 2016.

Imagine what would happen if Hogwarts was a school for assassins. Now imagine that Voldemort was the headmaster, all the teachers were Death Eaters and all of the students were sorted into Slytherin. Got that picture in your head? Great, that should give you a pretty good idea about what the Red Church is like. This isn't a school for any old wannabe assassin, it's a school for people who are serious about causing death and destruction wherever they go. In fact, you have to prove you've already killed to even enter the building so if you're not completely ruthless you might as well just walk away now. As you can guess a school run by the world's top assassins isn't going to be a walk in the park and not many of the students are expected to survive the year. It's not only the other students that you have to watch out for because you're just as likely to get a knife in the back (or poison in your cup) from one of your teachers.

Mia has spent years honing her skills so that she is ready to attend the Red Church, she is determined to get revenge on the people who destroyed her family and she knows that she'll only be able to do that if she has the best possible training. Everything she has ever wanted depends on her graduating as one of the top four students and she won't let anything get in her way, not even friendship, so she isn't setting out to make allies. I absolutely love Mia and her shadow cat Mister Kindly, I also fell hard for Tric, the boy who is the closest Mia has to a friend in the Red Church. There is just a hint of romance between them which I really enjoyed but you know all along that they're both working towards their own goals and that not even love will get in the way of them achieving what they've set out to do.

You know those YA books where the assassins are more interested in clothes and make up than making a kill? Well Nevernight is nothing like those books and Mia is more than willing to prove it to you. Technically this isn't even a YA book, just because Mia is sixteen at the beginning of the story doesn't mean that it's YA, there are graphic descriptions of violence and sex from the opening chapter and the blood doesn't stop flowing until the last page so it's not one I'd recommend to younger teens but it will have huge crossover appeal between older teens and adults.

Nevernight was everything I could have wanted, it is beautifully written, the characters are fantastic, the world is dark and vicious, the plot is full of twists and deadly turns and I was completely hooked from beginning to end. I still haven't forgiven Jay Kristoff for page 553 though (UK hardback edition, page number may be different in other formats), that was totally brutal and left me utterly heartbroken. The only thing I didn't like about this book is that the rest of the series hasn't been printed yet, it's going to be a long wait until I have the final book in my hands but I guess that gives me plenty of time to fit in a few rereads while I wait.

Source: Received from Harper Voyager in exchange for an honest review

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