Literary Devices in Everneath
Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Setting
Park City, UtahThe town where Nikki grew up is a pretty normal American town. In fact, it's even a real American town. And what transpires within it is, as a rule, super ordinary. We're talking foo...
Narrator Point of View
Nikki is our first person narrator in Everneath, which we know because like the whole book is told from her perspective with tons of I and me pronouns along the way. The good side is that we really...
Genre
Mostly we're going to say that Everneath is YA. Here's why:Teenage girl protagonist Reliable boyfriend figure versus sexy dangerous new guyHigh school settingSee? The book has more in common with T...
Tone
Nikki isn't your average world-weary and cynical teenager—she's actually spent a century having her emotions drained by an immortal sociopath. So while lots of teens are jaded, there's some extra...
Writing Style
Nikki, our narrator, feeds us information in a simple, pretty unadorned style. She's not given to wildly descriptive flights of fancy. For example, when the Feed is over, Nikki is "struck by how at...
What's Up With the Title?
Okay, so Everneath is a made-up word. That makes our job a little harder, but hang in there.Let's start with what the word means in the book. The Everneath is a realm between our world and the next...
What's Up With the Epigraph?
THE EVERNEATH.History books call it the Underworld. Or even hell. But I know it's neither. It is really called the Everneath, and it's not a place for the dead. It's a place for the Everliving—be...
What's Up With the Ending?
Within paragraphs of the book's end, we see that Nikki's life is back on track in the mortal world. She tells us:I wasn't going anywhere. The Tunnels had forgotten about me. Jack's sacrifice meant...
Tough-o-Meter
The language in Everneath is simple and user-friendly, and since our viewpoint character Nikki is a teenager, we're not surprised that it's an easy-breezy read in terms of readability. But hold up:...
Plot Analysis
From Hell to High SchoolNikki has problems. She spent six months (which felt like a century) in the Everneath getting her emotions sucked out by immortal Cole, but now she's back in the ordinary wo...
Trivia
Ashton's parents are both Greek mythology geeks. (Source)One of Ashton's favorite scenes in Everneath is the one at the end of the book where Jack stops Nikki in the hallway and confronts her about...
Steaminess Rating
We see some pretty steamy kisses in Everneath and a few references to the topic of s-e-x, but we don't see much action happening on stage. So no need to cover anyone's eyes as they read this bookâ€...
Allusions
Ancient Egyptian beliefs (30.15, 30.101, 30.108, 30.110, 30.127)Aphrodite (1.42)Demeter (13.11)Elysian Fields (9.10, 9.12, 9.39)Eurydice (13.15, 13.18, 14.20, 23.19, 23.21, 26.45, 26.49, 26.55, 27....