Nevernight by Jay Kristoff
Mia Corvere is only ten years old when she is given her first lesson in death.
Destined to destroy empires, the child raised in shadows made a promise on the day she lost everything: to avenge herself on those that shattered her world.
But the chance to strike against such powerful enemies will be fleeting, and Mia must become a weapon without equal. Before she seeks vengeance, she must seek training among the infamous assassins of the Red Church of Itreya.
Inside the Church’s halls, Mia must prove herself against the deadliest of opponents and survive the tutelage of murderers, liars and daemons at the heart of a murder cult.
The Red Church is no ordinary school, but Mia is no ordinary student.
The shadows love her.
And they drink her fear.
Rating: 
I pondered what to put up today, but I felt that this was a good choice (I am getting married).
I read Illuminae before I read Nevernight, and this is a re-read to catch up for Darkdawn. I just hadn’t reviewed it, as I had first got the hardcover from Illumicrate and that was quite a while back. Anyway, this book is an interesting choice. But it is definitely my kind of book.
One of my favourite things is the way it describes how bodies work after someone dies or just as they die. (Yes, I know, I sound morbid, but a) I am Mexican and we celebrate Day of the Dead, plus we have La Santa Muerte, and b) I worked for two years in palliative care and saw people die a few times while I was caring for them). This automatically made me love the book, because I rarely ever see death displayed this way and even though here technically death is revered, it is also different to the ways I have seen it celebrated and revered.
Mia is an interesting character and probably one of the best anti-heroes I’ve read (my other favourite is Vin from Mistborn). She is selfish and has her own motives but also navigates her own moral compass and chooses t keep it despite what the Red Church requires.
The whole academia setitng is fun but this is definitely an adult book, and as such has no filters in the way it presents the information. There is sex, abuse, violence and gore and lots of swearing, including the c word.
I enjoyed it thoroughly, including the foot notes and it was worth reading, however I can understand others not liking it and the topics are quite heavy and there is a lot of death and potential death in it.
Why did I choose it for today, because it is a stellar book.
