Book Reviews for Writers: Strong Themes from Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Today, I'm excited to be part of the ARC tour for Brodi Ashton's awesome book Everneath! Here's the cover copy:

"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 goodbyes 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 the 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."

It takes a really intriguing paranormal for me to rave about it. This isn't a bash on paranormal; it's just that it's not always my personal taste. Some storylines really capture my interest, though, and Everneath did. I was so lucky to be part of the ARC tour. I read the book in one sitting-- that's how engrossing it was.  I loved so many things about the book (the characters and their relationships, the brilliant use of flashbacks that enhanced the pace rather than slowing it down, a cliff-hanger ending that STILL managed to be very satisfying), but one thing I really loved was the theme.

I think theme is one of those things we don't always use to our greatest advantage when we write. I guess it's hard to come up with easy blogging "lists" of how to enhance the theme of your book, but after reading Everneath, I had a few thoughts.

Brodi Ashton does a fabulous job of addressing the theme of redemption without being heavy-handed about it. One of the ways she did that was to tie it Nikki's character arc. As Nikki grows through the book and questions her own "redeemability," it brings the theme to the reader's attention without the author bashing you over the head or becoming preachy.

By tying the theme to the character so closely, it also makes the theme hit a strong emotional chord with the reader. Of course, this was made possible because Ashton did a great job of making you care for Nikki.

So, my friends, Everneath comes out January 24, and I highly recommend that you read it! It was one of my favorite books that I've read this year, and I can't wait to get my own copy.