)Īlthough Evertrue is a satisfactory conclusion to this trilogy, I still found myself a little disappointed.

Granted, the cliffhanger at the end of this novel is a real gut-ripper, but it's almost worth it considering the executive brilliance throughout this book. Instead, Ashton uses her main leads to their full potential, tying together mythology, relationship, and words in a seamless manner. Ashton never blurs the lines between these two, proving that the classic love triangle can and will be disregarded if need be. Moreover, short flashback stories dispersed throughout the novel keep Jack fresh in our minds, despite the fact that Nikki and Cole's friendship takes precedence. With so many scene changes, Ashton is able to keep the urgency of Nikki's quest alive. It's intriguing, to say the least, and makes this middle book shockingly exciting.Įven the pace of Everbound never lets up, traveling from the Surface to the Everneath and back and forth and back and forth. With Nikki we travel deeper into the Everneath, but we also see deeper into Cole, finally getting his backstory, meeting his friends, and putting together thousands of miniscule pieces. From the beginning itself we can tell that there is a lot more to Cole than what meets the naked eye and while the prequel novella to this installment didn't convince me of his character, this novel certainly did, painting him to be a deeply misunderstood character. If there is anyone who steals the show in this installment, though, it is Cole. Not only is the world-building drastically expanded upon, realistic and visual, but the characters are revealed to contain even more depths than we originally imagined. Everbound is easily the best this series has to offer.

The everneath series