Hiya there guys!
Today I have a scheduled post here for you all, while I am enjoying a pair of days off at my parents' cottage, reading up a storm and relaxing and playing with puppies!
For this week's Mark This Book Monday I have a book that will be for sure on my Top 10 list for 2016 and one that I'm already in the process of re-reading and collecting a few editions of!
I've heard quite a bit of debate and controversy about Nevernight being YA or not being YA... and my own opinion would clearly be that it ISN'T YA. It's a really dark and bloody book and it simply feels like an adult book for me, not so much because there is sex in it, but mostly because it's dark and violent and pulls no punches.
And I'm stealing this lil bit from a friend's review (Jessica from Rabid Reads) where the author himself answers the question:
There seems to be some confusion on the YA/not YA nature of this book, so let the record show, in response to the question, "Are your books YA or not?" on his website FAQ, Kristoff replied:
Nevernight by Jay Kristoff
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Started reading it last night and spent the majority of today glued to the pages! Bloody and unapologeticly gory and full betrayal and darkness!! And some damned amazingly brilliant writing. A brilliant book that is bound to give me a damned book hangover for sure!!
----
It indeed gave me a massive book hangover and all the reading I managed to do was listening to my re-read of the Throne of Glass books. I've already started re-reading Nevernight, because that's one sure cure for a massive book hangover, right? Right.
Nevernight is one amazing book with brilliant and lyrical writing, weaving words like a master, and those footnotes? The perfect way to add more to the story without bogging down the pacing of the plot or the narrative. I loved the footnotes in Sir Terry Patchett's Discworld and the footnotes in Nevernight really reminded me of those, full of humour, information and a wee bit of irony here and there!
Mia is our main character, and a girl that had everything taken from her and that decided to never again have anyone else make choices for her. We get quite enough back story to understand where she's coming from at first, and we keep on getting a little bit more here and there, giving us tidbits of the past to help us understand better what's going on in the present.
Her will to become an assassin and train in the Red Church is fueled by revenge and it's what makes her get through the very tough, very bloody and very messy training in there. The teachers are all assassins and they have no qualms about students dying or being at risk of it, training is brutal in so many ways. Then you have to deal with the rest of the fellow students that are rivals and quite fierce ones, even Mia might have considered some as allies and friends (at least to some extent).
Not all adult books have sex in them, but this one does, and I have to say that I really liked how empowering it was for Mia. She made the choices every time of when, with whom and why, and what the limits were for her, and I felt that it was a message we don't always get in books, so I applaud Mr Kristoff for that!
Plenty of twists, betrayals and most of them got me completly by surprise! This one is one hell of a captivating book that you will want to savour & devour at the same time! I simply adored it and I'm beyond looking forward to the next one! 5 stars and many more!!
View all my reviews
Today I have a scheduled post here for you all, while I am enjoying a pair of days off at my parents' cottage, reading up a storm and relaxing and playing with puppies!
For this week's Mark This Book Monday I have a book that will be for sure on my Top 10 list for 2016 and one that I'm already in the process of re-reading and collecting a few editions of!
I've heard quite a bit of debate and controversy about Nevernight being YA or not being YA... and my own opinion would clearly be that it ISN'T YA. It's a really dark and bloody book and it simply feels like an adult book for me, not so much because there is sex in it, but mostly because it's dark and violent and pulls no punches.
And I'm stealing this lil bit from a friend's review (Jessica from Rabid Reads) where the author himself answers the question:
There seems to be some confusion on the YA/not YA nature of this book, so let the record show, in response to the question, "Are your books YA or not?" on his website FAQ, Kristoff replied:
THE NEVERNIGHT CHRONICLE is a different beast. The protagonist is a sixteen year old girl. Does that automatically make it YA? My editors say “Definitely not, and who the hell let you out of your cage? Get back to work”.
These books are about an assassin. They are, as you may expect, somewhat violent as a result. They also have sex scenes (and now I have to contemplate the fact that my mother is going to read them *shudders*). I’d rate them MA (or NA if you prefer) and describe them as “crossover books”. But they’ll be found in the adult Fantasy section of your bookstore.
Nevernight by Jay KristoffMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Started reading it last night and spent the majority of today glued to the pages! Bloody and unapologeticly gory and full betrayal and darkness!! And some damned amazingly brilliant writing. A brilliant book that is bound to give me a damned book hangover for sure!!
----
It indeed gave me a massive book hangover and all the reading I managed to do was listening to my re-read of the Throne of Glass books. I've already started re-reading Nevernight, because that's one sure cure for a massive book hangover, right? Right.
Nevernight is one amazing book with brilliant and lyrical writing, weaving words like a master, and those footnotes? The perfect way to add more to the story without bogging down the pacing of the plot or the narrative. I loved the footnotes in Sir Terry Patchett's Discworld and the footnotes in Nevernight really reminded me of those, full of humour, information and a wee bit of irony here and there!
Mia is our main character, and a girl that had everything taken from her and that decided to never again have anyone else make choices for her. We get quite enough back story to understand where she's coming from at first, and we keep on getting a little bit more here and there, giving us tidbits of the past to help us understand better what's going on in the present.
Her will to become an assassin and train in the Red Church is fueled by revenge and it's what makes her get through the very tough, very bloody and very messy training in there. The teachers are all assassins and they have no qualms about students dying or being at risk of it, training is brutal in so many ways. Then you have to deal with the rest of the fellow students that are rivals and quite fierce ones, even Mia might have considered some as allies and friends (at least to some extent).
Not all adult books have sex in them, but this one does, and I have to say that I really liked how empowering it was for Mia. She made the choices every time of when, with whom and why, and what the limits were for her, and I felt that it was a message we don't always get in books, so I applaud Mr Kristoff for that!
Plenty of twists, betrayals and most of them got me completly by surprise! This one is one hell of a captivating book that you will want to savour & devour at the same time! I simply adored it and I'm beyond looking forward to the next one! 5 stars and many more!!
View all my reviews
Yayy we're review twins today~ I loved this one and can't stop thinking about it. So good! Need that next book!
ReplyDeleteSO SO GOOD! I'll go check your review soon Eileen!
DeleteI LOVED THE FOOTNOTES. And I loved Jay's Twitter posts about how it's acceptable in YA for there to be kids killing kids, but not sex. And honestly, I didn't even think about it until he said it.
ReplyDeleteExcellent post. I can't even wait to see what happens next.
I adooored the footnotes!! And yeah, violence is okay, killing is okay but sex is not... that's seriously warped!
DeleteI wanted to let you know I read your review. I had to set this book aside, not because I didn't like what I had read, but because, as you know the author was pushing it as YA when the ARCs first came out and was not so civil about it when some readers, and other authors, had a problem with that. I am happy to see he has changed his mind, for whatever reason. I was saddened, however, to see it on Paste magazine's Top Ten August YA releases. Thumbs up to you, Pili, for making it a point to mention it isn't YA.
ReplyDeleteThis is what I call a crossover title and should NOT be marketed as a YA book... and I do remember from when it was first announced that Jay had said it was not YA.
DeleteHe was pushing it as YA on Twitter the one day. In fact, I was in a Twitter buddy read group at that time and the four other people in the group were horrified. He said that, [he] is the author and he decides what YA is," and as Cait pointed out on my blog when I mentioned why I had put the book aside, he said that anyone who didn't agree with letting kids read anything they want at any age was "F@#ked in the head." He said that parents who choose what their children read are dictators and bad parents whether the kids are seven years old or fourteen. The two buddy readers who got their ARCs at book events said that the publisher made it very clear that it was not YA and it was not to be promoted as YA. They were especially shocked that Jay was saying the things he was.
DeleteOoooo love his response to that question! I like that this is a crossover book and exists a bit on its own plane. I've definitely heard about the confusion over it's placement, and it of course makes me want to read it all the more. I love a good assassin story, and it wouldn't be a good one if things didn't get a little dark and bloody!
ReplyDeleteYou really need to read this one Jenny! It's so damned good!
DeleteThis book was (forgive me) cray-cray! I really enjoyed it, for all its crazy violence and shenanigans. I've known this was an adult book from the start (um, helllooooo, the publishing imprint is an ADULT one, and the price of the book is like $7 more expensive than your average YA book... come on, peeps!), and it was a good one. The ending though - I hope it doesn't stick. o_o
ReplyDeleteGreat review, Pili! I hope you're enjoying your time at the cottage!
Alyssa @ The Eater of Books!
Yeah, I do remember Jay saying it was NOT YA from the first time he announced it sold and what it was about.
DeleteYesss :D I am so glad you loved this book too Pili. Such a big favorite of mine :D IT WAS SO AWESOME. I loved it so much too :D Except that ending. Hmph. But it is Fantasy. So I feel it will change, haha ;) But anyway. Thank you for sharing your awesome thoughts about this precious :D
ReplyDeleteYeah, the ending was not nice at all! But Jay says he doesn't believe in HEA so... I dunno!! Cannot wait for the next book!
DeleteI want to read this novel so bad. I'm in love with the UK cover and this book sounds so up my alley. Hnnngghhhh need.
ReplyDelete