Nevernight [July 2019]

[Angela, I'm Silverfox lost]

Buddy read starts 10th July.

[Timelord Iain]

Gettin' in on this just in time for the finale in September... wasn't this the book club book for Feb 2018?

[Anni]

I'm not sure it was February, but yeah it was a while ago, I might join this as a re-read before jumping into Book 2 and 3 :)

[Laura Tenfingers]

In. I've checked this out of the library more times than I can count but for some reason I've never gotten to it! More fun with you all. :)

[Kathrine]

Ohhh, I've been wanting to read this since it was released. Definitely in!

[Lizz (Beer, Books and Boos)]

I have been waiting to read this book for awhile now

[Vaelin]

Count me in

[Solseit]

I should be in for this - I actually liked Nevernight and I wanted to read the trilogy! So count me in for this!

[Saar The Book owl]

Getting my copy today. I've read the first 175 pages a while ago and it's an interesting book to read.

[Kathrine]

My copy hasn't arrived yet, but crossing my fingers it will before Friday because my family and I leave for Norway early Saturday morning and will be gone for three weeks xD

But I'm super excited to read this book, I've heard a lot of good stuff about it!

[Anni]

Uh, sounds exciting! Fingers crossed it arrives in time :)

[Kathrine]

It arrived! :D And has been put with the other books I'm bringing. I've been picking out the books I wanna take on the trip, and so far I've chosen 9 – it's only a few weeks but better safe than sorry (and bored), right? xD

[Solseit]

I am starting now! I really liked it the first time I read it! Exciting!

[Solseit]

I forgot how interesting are the writing choices of the first chapter. Unique even. I am so glad I am back to this world!

[Anni]

Solseit wrote: "I forgot how interesting are the writing choices of the first chapter. Unique even. I am so glad I am back to this world!"

Yes, same :) I remember being really confused reading the first chapter, but as I figured out what's going on, I thought it was really cool. It's even better the second time!

[Solseit]

I flew through the book. I just finished it. I forgot some details but the core was there.
Now I am going to patiently wait for the next book to see what Mia is going to do next.

Ultimately, I liked the book; I love how solid the world building is. So well defined. I also liked the characters (and some more than others; and I developed a particular interest in Cassius).

Yet, I still have my reservations about using the heritage of a place one did not live in. It is silly, don’t get me wrong but I do not feel like it is appropriate (nor the nuances were properly reflected) to take the 1600 Northern Italy as inspiration (The Betrothed by Manzoni being the strongest influence) and use it in this context. Half-way too. I wonder if this is how it feels when non-Chinese or non-Japanese take inspiration from their heritage and try to make it part of ones books.
Again, personal pet peeve.
Other than that, it was certainly way too graphic in certain points (which I thought were not necessary) and they did not add much (not to say anything) to the story itself.

[Saar The Book owl]

I've started yesterday. I've started a couple of months ago, but then stopped. I haven't forget mutch. I just love the interesting writing style with the footnotes. The shadowcat is interesting too! The worldbuilding is big and I liked Mia from the beginning.

[Timelord Iain]

I'm listening on audio, even tho I've heard that that can be a little rough... it was touch and go at the start, but I'm liking it... quite a lot of dung in this story...

I'm at the end of Part 1 right now, about 30% through the book... the narration is interesting (the book, not the audio)... the way whoever is telling the story will comment on things... altho sometimes it can be a bit much, when adding flourishes to things like the inn early on with similes...

[Solseit]

Timelord Iain wrote: "I'm listening on audio, even tho I've heard that that can be a little rough... it was touch and go at the start, but I'm liking it... quite a lot of dung in this story...

I'm at the end of Part 1 ..."

I think this is one of the books that is better read than listened to. There are so many details - mostly interesting - that add flavor to the story but they are mostly buried in the notes and it is fragmented if you listen to it without a book in front of you.

[Timelord Iain]

Solseit wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "I'm listening on audio, even tho I've heard that that can be a little rough... it was touch and go at the start, but I'm liking it... quite a lot of dung in this story...

I'm..."

I pulled up the Google preview, and it looks like the footnotes are included in the audiobook, altho i dunno how it's decided when to include them... probably at the end of the paragraph or something... the one about the Brightest Light arson being heresy was included at some point, tho...

The narrator comments make a bit more sense, in the context of footnotes, tho, for sure...

[Anni]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Solseit wrote: "Timelord Iain wrote: "I'm listening on audio, even tho I've heard that that can be a little rough... it was touch and go at the start, but I'm liking it... quite a lot of dung in th..."

I listened to parts of the book the first time around, but had my book at home and could compare it. The footnotes are included in the narration at the point at which the little star or number appears. It's like a insertion in brackets :) The thing is you often don't get that you're currently listening to a footnote, which make them a little less charming in my opinion...

[Timelord Iain]

I'm starting to wonder if Jay Kristoff writes normal books... Illuminae Files was a unique one, too...

[Kathrine]

I started yesterday and am a few chapters in. The book is an interesting read for sure, but I think I'll need a bit more time to be convinced that I'll enjoy it. Let's just say I'm not instantly blown away xD The title is amazing though, and I love the cover my edition has. Also, all the shadow-stuff is intriguing me!

I'm reading this along with The Blade Itself which might also be a bit unfair, because The Blade Itself is amazing and I can hardly stop listening to it to read Nevernight xD

[Timelord Iain]

Kathrine wrote: "I started yesterday and am a few chapters in. The book is an interesting read for sure, but I think I'll need a bit more time to be convinced that I'll enjoy it. Let's just say I'm not instantly bl..."

I was engaged early, but I'm flagging a bit in the middle... the shadowcat is a fear crutch, and seems like a dangerous Achilles heel for an assassin... (view spoiler)[and this assassin school seems to have a terrible training program... you'd think the school would have killed it's way out of existence, the way it treats initiates... (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain]

Chapter 26: With everything going on with the school mystery, it's kinda funny that the book has one set of theories, and I have a completely different set... (view spoiler)[the book is looking at the obvious suspects, plus Mia, plus the knowledgeable poisoners as suspects.

I'm looking at Trick and the shadowcat. Trick as the possible killer, using his relationship with Mia to protect himself. The shadowcat taking advantage of the situation to ramp up Mia's fear for his own hungry reasons, if Trick is innocent. (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain]

Chapter 30: (view spoiler)[Ash should have known better... I've read Harry Potter... if you leave an opening for points to change the winner, it will happen... Ash should have gotten a 100 point lead, so the key would have caused a tie at best... (hide spoiler)]

[Kathrine]

Sorry for my absence, guys, I'm finally home from holiday and have access to my computer again so I can comment again (because the GR app really sucks for commenting). I finished the book while away and here's some of my thoughts:

Overall: (view spoiler)[I liked it a lot even though it wasn't what I expected at all. I liked the whole school thing a lot; it reminded me of Harry Potter and Hogwarts, although a much sinister version xD I didn't see the twist coming at all, although some people say it was obvious – but I did figure that it wasn't Jessamine killing people, but I thought it might be the Church itself doing it as a f*cked up way to educate their Acolytes... (hide spoiler)]

The writing: (view spoiler)[I found the writing a bit clunky at times and some of the metaphors were weird... And sometimes the character interactions were a bit hard on the "gotta be badass and witty", but overall I liked the writing, especially during the action scenes. (hide spoiler)]

Darkins: (view spoiler)[I found this whole shadow-magic concept very interesting, and I'm super excited to learn more! I loved Mr. Kindly and his relationship with Mia, and I'm interested in seeing how Eclipse will fit into that (hide spoiler)]

4 stars

[Kathrine]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Chapter 30: [spoilers removed]"

That's actually a great observation that I didn't think of, but that I'll definitely keep in mind if I ever have to win a thieving point contest! xD

[Angela Jr.]

Started this a while ago, but then hit a slump... I'll try to catch up and start the second one soon as well!

[Angela Jr.]

Made it to chapter 16!
(view spoiler)[The switching timelines totally confused me in the first chapter, i had no idea what was going on lol. Haven't seen the former timeline in a while though. I think it's an interesting choice to tell the story this way, certainly more engaging than had we started with 10 year old mia and followed her life linearly.
I wasn't too hooked at the beginning, but as soon as they got to the red church, that changed immediately. Spiderkiller and solis are in a league of their own...
I forgot his name, but I'm sure we'll get to see the darkin leader of the church again. Seems too good an opportunity for mia to find out more about mr kindly and her powers.
I'm curious whether tric and mia will fix their friendship, they haven't talked in a while. Jessamine , hush and carlotta seem intriguing in a bad way. Mia better watch her back.
(hide spoiler)]

[Angela Jr.]

Forgot to comment on the footnotes...
On the one hand, they're super interesting and show how much the author knows about his world that isn't even relevant to the main story. But, on the other hand, most of the time they take me out of the story and prevent me from being totally absorbed by it.

[Angela Jr.]

Chapter 31
(view spoiler)[ok, what the hell just happened?
First off, i didn't expect mia to refuse the initiation and leave school.
Second, ash and osrik? So they're trying to avenge their father by eradicating the red church, not by becoming blades... Certainly didn't see that coming. (hide spoiler)]

[Angela Jr.]

Finished yesterday!

(view spoiler)[didn't expect cassius to die. But of course it would have been too easy getting answers about darkins, had he survived. Obviously I'm curious about the "moon" and cleo's map.

So mia got her revenge on one of the three baddies. Are we going to get one third revenge per book?

Mr kindly and eclipse have great potential for some comic relief in the next book, although i can see the constant bickering becoming tiresome pretty quickly too...

Starting godsgrave today! (hide spoiler)]

[Saar The Book owl]

Totally forgot about this one! I've started it for the BR, but then put it aside. Will pick it up this evening and I'm curious to read the comments later.

[Zaara]

This BR is dedicated to Mother Russia one of her favourite sons

Loved that dedication!! Immediately I am favourably disposed towards this writer. He seems like a Nice Guy...and then immediaetly 😂😂😂 (view spoiler)[ all that poop talk!

“But I think someone should at least try to separate her from the lies told about her. Through her. By her. Someone who knew her true.”

Question: Who is this narrator? Reading a few chapters on I think it may be Tric?
Wait...that was rhetorical....don't tell me yet...
(hide spoiler)]

I am thru Part 1.
PART ONE SPOILERS

The early switchbacks/repetition in Chapter 1
(view spoiler)[
feels/reads/sounds Dickensian to me, altho this may be bcuz I love Dickens (and Austen and Brontë) so much I see him everywhere but I'm glad he dropped it soon enough because it will have been hard for him to maintain that thru the whole book.
Also, there is only one Dickens!
(hide spoiler)]

Story:
(view spoiler)[ such Ned Stark vibes...altho Mia read a bit adult for me in the hanging scene, Arya's complete bewilderment read more like a child POV for me...
And the mother being betrayed...the family breaking into pieces...early training/coming of age...standard enough...yet told entertainingly...I'm liking it very much indeed.
(hide spoiler)]
Apart from the writing style, I like the world and the magic very much so far. And I like the irritated banter between Mia and Tric.

Re the footnotes...I LOVE them, and actually they do remind me of Bartimaeus...but they're a bit more adult...
😂😂😂 @ (view spoiler)[ the Orphan Maker... (hide spoiler)]
Mainly bcuz...like I said, acadaemia + I enjoy the random nonsense asides and stories...I am a fervent supporter of #NonsenseStorytime...and also the filling in of the world mythos, the fleshing out of history...
But I can certainly see the point @Angela Jr was making...some of them footnotes are merely wit for wit's sake and if it becomes too much unnecessariness...it can irk...I feel ya, gal.

And also Eeeeeuurrkh @ the creepy bartender Mia met in Last Hope.
Random nonplot description of a creepy dude quote for Virginie:
"His eyes were a little too close together, and he reeked of rotten fish...He was propped behind the bar in a grubby apron (bloodstains?)...Mia noticed one of his eyes moved slightly before the other, like a child leading a slow cousin by the hand."

Ch 4
(view spoiler)[
Ohk cat murder in four words... :/
but...Andy...(for me) nothing so far has topped Mark Lawrence's Justice scenes from Broken Empire...which made me angry cry. You remember? Ohk mebbe the Chain of Dogs but the scale of the two series and events is not even comparable...
(hide spoiler)]

Pigfiddler 😂😂😂...wait...wait...I HAVE to call someone this...luckily I have an assortment of brothers who can be relied on to provide many opportunities for such excellent usage of refined language...

And Bast@rd...ahaaaa the humour of (view spoiler)[ the catankaerous horse! Grumpy is gold...😁😁😁 and Steven Erikson fell under this spell too... (hide spoiler)]

And then the library scenes at End of Part 1...always gotta give those some 😍😍😍

[Zaara]

Andy? Anybody?
:/ I like the short chapters.

Just finishing PART 2
There seems to be some sort of (view spoiler)[long game/mystery (hide spoiler)] developing in the footnotes CH 12 (view spoiler)[ of about a missing piece in the deity puzzle...some sort of shadow god/goddess mebbe ...I'm referencing specifically the one where the origin of the days of the week are discussed:

“The Itreyan week consists of seven turns, one for each of Aa’s four daughters, and one for each of his three eyes. Niahan heretics speak of a time before the Maw was banished from the sky, when Aa claimed only one turn in the week for himself, and granted another to his bride. The heretics make no mention of who the seventh turn may have belonged to."

There's also (seems like) a BIG clue in CH 3 footnotes:
“And what became of Anais, you might ask? The rival Aa so rightly feared?
That, gentlefriend, would be spoiling things.”
(hide spoiler)]

CH 14 Aalea and (view spoiler)[the physical transmutation scene...it's exactly the same effect achieved by Tonks in Harry Potter but the lack of agency/self-expression makes this process seem so malevolent (there's no other word for it) (hide spoiler)] whereas Rowling's writing (that Tonks scene but also generally) is a big happy hug that catches everybody in its warmth.

Weird thought but what sort of mother would Aalea have made? What it will be like to have a mother like her. And aaaaww how sweet that (view spoiler)[Tric did not like Mia's original face being messed with by weavers...friends...☺️☺️ (hide spoiler)]

CH 16-17 YECK...(view spoiler)[literally wading into a burbling pigs' bloodbath...🙊 I knew there'd be a magical rubric for logistics...just didn't expect this...puts me in mind of (I will not say dumbed down but more simplistic versiom of) warrens...
And 😍 o Lord Cassius and his shadowolf! I dunno more about him at this stafe but I actually find him (extremely) creepily attractive/hot in freakin' out ways...like that Marsh guy I only knew in tiny slivers from reading Mistborn 1 or (much better) Dalinar Kholin from SA. But the "loyalty test" makes sense, in principle. Too much to risk otherwise at the hands of green kids...wish they didn't have to do it thru torturing them tho...

🔥 CASSIUS QUOTE:
“What was it about this man that affected her so? Was it because he was of her kind? The dark in him, calling to the dark in her?
She heard soft, padded footsteps behind her. That low wolf growl.
Eclipse …”
(hide spoiler)]

Only one small general gripe...(view spoiler)[ is irritating when the "not" cat is "not" doing something in sentences which basically mean that "the cat is doing something". Hope he drops this odd sentence fetish quick...because we all just get the concept of a shadowcat after the first five times of being told it was made of duuuuh shadow. (hide spoiler)]

[Zaara]

Finished.

Whoa CH 24 (view spoiler)[ :| at the sex with Tric...felt it came precipitately + sh!t maaaan they were such lovely friends. I was actually wishing and hoping we get a Lord Cassius/Aalea sex scene. Now that would really be something...instead of these ruddy teenagers gasping in the thralls of first love. I mean Tric is sweet n all but i just don't feel his manness tho. Also the shared self-sacrificial lashings scene at the end of Part 2 was vomiticious...literally made the stomach roil and bile rise. Effin' idealistic sacrificial horny kids...o god, when hormones and idealism both rise together and mix...it is always so intense and painful...but perversely I am angry at both of them! (hide spoiler)]

CH 27 Mia in (view spoiler)[ the prison flashback = totally Credence at the end of Fantastic Beasts 1. (hide spoiler)]

Ch 34 (view spoiler)[ BIG PLOTHOLE how could she let them escape on a camel train and just watch when she could just step into the shadow of her own wagon and jump out of the shadow of the escaping one...like she done so many times before?
But *sighs* ho for the dramatic horse chase.... (hide spoiler)]

End/fullbook
(view spoiler)[ :O Ash?? Our Ash??? I vaguely suspected Hush before letting it go.
And Tric had just better be alive...that sweet child...they'd never give us all that char background and just wipe it like this? And 😡😤 wtf no more Cassius just so Mai can get a wolf? He was literally the hottest thing happening on my pages this month. And it is annoying but not enough to stop me from immediately starting GG. Ha did you notice how I'm cunningly avoiding Oathbringer in case this happen with Dal?
(hide spoiler)]

@Andy...are you ok? You haven't logged in for ages now...dude...hope you aren't sick or something.........

[Zaara]

I actually handwrote a Cassius/Aalea smut claarsy fan fiction scene in my journal because the idea wouldn't leave my head. (view spoiler)[Shadow (hide spoiler)]Rope was involved.
And before you see this, nope I'd much rather not...it's too embarrasing. But...I'm jezzt sayin'.......I ship these two hard, thank you Jay Kristoff.

[idiffer]

Re the footnotes...I LOVE them, (с)

I don't. I tried reading a few, but the information didn't seem important or interesting enough for me to be taken out of the story.

(for me) nothing so far has topped Mark Lawrence's Justice scenes from Broken Empire...which made me angry cry. You remember? (c)

I read only books 1 and 2 + I skipped all the flashbacks. Remind me?

is irritating when the "not" cat is "not" doing something in sentences which basically mean that "the cat is doing something".(c)

Mmm, any paraphrased quotes? I don't remember this, and the way you describe it, it seems kinda dumb. Maybe I misundestood what you meant?

That's it for coments about your first two posts. If I didn't comment on it, that means I agree. Will comment on nyour other posts later today probably.

[idiffer]

Agree with you about the shadow plothole, though I didn't notice it at the time of reading.
That's all I have to say. Except I wrote a review of Nevernight back in 2017 I think. If you want, you can read it.
I read this book long ago, so all the detaails are veeery fuzzy.

[Zaara]

:D you came!

About Justice...o Andy...how to explain...when you skipped an entire timeline...😂😂😂 but its enough you and Satan came to read Broken Empire with us...gritting your teeth and cribbing and (now apparently I realise) skipping vast honking portions...but still....

Ok now let's move quietly to the GG thread because I finished this one...

[Carl]

I finished this book a month ago and went out and got the other two parts, have to say the writing style took a lot of getting used to but by the time I finished and had to see where it leads.

[Zaara]

Carl wrote: "I finished this book a month ago and went out and got the other two parts, have to say the writing style took a lot of getting used to but by the time I finished and had to see where it leads."

Good on ya, Carl. Anni, Andy and I are gonna start Darkdawn in a couple days, I guess...so come on over if you've finished GG and join the conversation...

[Anni]

Yes, please join us! :)