This book is just amazing! I love it so much! I love the way the story unfolds; how you're plunged into the middle, six months after the "real" beginning. There are actually two different story lines: "last year" follows Nikki and Jack, and how Nikki first meets Cole (or so I assume, I haven't gotten to that part yet) and "now" which follows Nikki as she attends high school after disappearing for six months, which for her was actually a hundred years. She's changed so much, it's like reading from the point of view of two different characters, which I love. You get to know happy, bubbly Nikki, so full of life and excited about high school and her boyfriend Jack, and Nikki during the Return, when all her emotions have been stolen from her and she struggles to slip into her old high school life and formulate a better way to say goodbye to those she loves, who she left without a world the first time she went to the Everneath. The author's writing style, and how she's able to switch between these two different time lines and can convey how different Nikki is in a span of just six months in our world is just amazing. As I was reading it, I planned to give it four stars, but the last 20 pages earned this book it's fifth star. The ending is just so amazing! The emotions, the decisions... and then the fact that there's still hope, and there will be a second book! The ending just blew me away, and made me fall in love with this book even more. And of course, I can't forget the cover. I absoutely love it! How the smoke is billowing at her feet, and the bright red dress transforms into wispy trails of smoke, like a candle snuffed out, is gorgeous. And once again, it's a cover where you don't see the model's eyes, but I don't mind. It seems to be such a common thing now, that it's really weird if you do see the eyes of a model on a book cover. The quote on the front reads "I was pulled under by this bittersweet, beautiful retelling of the Persephone myth. Wonderful!" (Ally Condie) and I couldn't agree more. This is such a beautiful story, and it's a wonderful retelling of the Hades/Persephone myth. And the most wonderful part is just that: it's a retelling. It takes the basic idea for the story, that a young girl goes to the underworld for six months, and then is able to return for six months, and adds so much more to the story. Brodi takes the original idea of the age old tale and spins it into something new and magical, giving it her own personal touches, and adapting the story and making it her own. And one more thing I want to mention (as if this isn't already long enough): the title. Everneath. I love it. And I love that Brodi decided to get call the underworld "Everneath" instead. Something about that title just seems so hauntingly beautiful. All in all, this was an amazing, breathtaking, completely mind blowing book, and I can't wait to get my hands on Everbound.