"All I could focus on was the hate." (Nikki Beckett)
I had extremely high hopes for Evertrue, and I must admit that I'm a little disappointed.
After the mind reeling ending of Everbound, Nikki has become an Everliving and decides that the only way that she save herself is to destroy the Everneath. Unfortunately, the transition from a human to an Everliving is complicated and without Cole's help, Nikki will die.
The elements that I like in Everneath and Everbound disintegrate in Evertrue i.e. the characters, the romance and the plot.
In Everneath and Everbound, I really believed in Nikki's and Jack's romance. However, in Evertrue, Nikki and Jack literally go everywhere together and are too dependent on each other. Their relationship is extremely unhealthy! Nikki and Jack can't live and function if they aren't near each other.
I also don't know who Jack is when Nikki's not around. In Evertrue, Jack's an angry guy who needs anger management therapy. Everytime Nikki needs to feed from Cole, Jack turns into an angry and possessive caveman and threatens to beat Cole up. DUDE, IF YOUR GIRLFRIEND DOESN'T FEED FROM COLE, SHE'S GOING TO DIE!!!
The biggest disappointment in Evertrue is the way Cole's character is handled. Cole's my second favourite character in the Everneath series, after Will Caputo. Cole's such a complex character. One never knows whether he's genuine or whether he has an ulterior motive. He plays so many tricks on Nikki to get what he wants and anticipates her every move. He's a genius and he has an awesome personality. The events that Cole go through in Everneath completely ruins his character, but it's the only obvious way his character could be redeemed. Cole has amnesia and is manipulated by Nikki and Jack to help them. Also, it's obvious that Cole was never going to get the girl, but I didn't want him to die (although I guessed it would happen). I expected more for him.
Although I have gripes about Evertrue, I enjoyed reading it. It's a gripping and quick read and I felt for the characters and wanted them to succeed and be happy.
An underwhelming finale of an amazing series!
"Never focus on the end. Only focus on your first step." (Jack Caputo)