Mia Corvere watched her father hang as a traitor when she was ten years old. Her family was then taken prisoner, and she barely escaped. When she begins befriending the shadows on her run from the Senate, she finds herself learning under a retired killer and preparing for a future of revenge. Six years later, Mia sets out to join the Red Church- a group of fearsome assassins who can train her further and allow her to exact her long awaited vengeance. But once there, Mia must fight for her life, battle her demons, and discover how far she's willing to go for her goal.

Reading a new work from a favorite author, one you know is well-versed in wrecking readers' emotions, is always an interesting experience because you wonder if this new story will affect you the same way as the others, if it will be more emotional or less. After the STORMDANCER series, I didn't think the emotional turmoil could get worse, but Jay Kristoff's latest, NEVERNIGHT, is a perfect explosion of heartbreak, frustration, incredible bursts of victory, and crushing defeats and betrayal. From the opening chapters which beautifully parallel Mia's first kill with her first sexual encounter to the mounting tension that wraps you in both anxious fear and unparalleled curiosity for more, Mia's journey is an unforgettable and brutal ride.

Mia and her friends are nuanced and delightfully morally gray. Even as they battle each other and compete, for most of them, you can't help caring for them. Each endured tragedy to get where they are, and each have desperate desires to find their place at the Red Church. The romance between Mia and Tric is nearly sinful in its dangerous and forbidden edge, and you'll wish for their happiness, even as you still know they can't have it.

While the world building is incredible, the frequent and often lengthy footnotes can be a bit distracting from the story. They are used for detailing history, giving extra information, sometimes for a dose of humor, and perhaps most importantly, giving more personality to the mysterious narrator telling Mia's story. However, don't be surprised if you find yourself saving the footnotes for later when the action kicks up.

Epic, fierce, and unforgiving, NEVERNIGHT is a stunning tale of one young woman who seeks revenge in a den of murderers.

Book Summary

Nevernight is the first in an epic new fantasy series from the New York Times bestselling author, Jay Kristoff.

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, a sixteen year old Mia is apprenticed to the deadliest flock of assassins in the entire Republic — the Red Church. Treachery and trials await her with the Church’s halls, and to fail is to die. But if she survives to initiation, Mia will be inducted among the chosen of the Lady of Blessed Murder, and one step closer to the only thing she desires.

Revenge.