Nevernight by Jay Kristoff (Spoiler-free!) Review

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?

“Never flinch, never fear, and never, ever forget.”

This was a re-read for me. This was my favorite book of 2016 and it’s safe to say this is still one of my favorite books! I just love everything about it!! Jay Kristoff is one brilliant, sarcastic man! Whatever he writes, I will read, that’s for sure!

“When all is blood, blood is all.”

Mia Corvere is out for revenge. She wants the blood of the men responsible for sending her father to his death and tearing her family apart. What better way to get revenge than to be trained by a retired assassin in order to join a school for assassins. This school is a little like Hogwarts, but much more deadly and bloodier. The recruits are trained in venomcraft, swordmanship, pick pocketing, and the subtle arts (sex). The students at the top of these classes at the end of the training get to join the ranks of deadly assassins called Blades. Is Mia able to beat out all the other students and rise to the top of the class to become a Blade in order to exact her revenge? You will have to pick up Nevernight to find out! And I urge that you do!

The formatting of this book is unlike any other I have ever read. Some love it, some hate it. I am on the side that loved it. Throughout the book you’ll notice there are sections of italicized words and regular font. The italicized section represents past events and the regular font is present time. I was a big fan of this. In my opinion, it made the book much easier to follow. There are also footnotes throughout the book. I thought the footnotes were great additions! They gave extra information about the world and also added in the sarcastic personality of Jay himself. I thought the footnotes were fun!

“The last thing you will ever be in this world, girl, is someone’s hero. But you will be a girl heroes fear.”

Mia Corvere is a badass main character. She is one of my favorite female lead characters of all-time! She is a ruthless killer with a soft side that comes out every once in a great while. She is a well-rounded character with a sarcastic attitude. Her shadow-cat companion, Mr. Kindly, was another one of my favorite characters in the book. He’s always by Mia’s side and I love the way him and Mia interact together.

This book was bloody and gory and action packed! The fight scenes were incredible! I loved the flashbacks to the past. Nevernight is an all-around kickass book! If you love fantasy, badass female characters, assassins, and action, then this is the book for you! This book gets a glowing 5 out of 5  stabs stars from me!

This has nothing to do with the book but I just wanted to add in that I actually got to meet Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman at BookCon 2016! It was one of my happiest moments!