Despite my excessive passion for Jay Kristoff’s Illuminae (which he wrote with Amie Kaufman) I was a little worried about reading Nevernight. Fantasy is one of the few genres I tend to steer clear of, even though I LOVE sci-fi, but my excitement about another offering from Kristoff won through and, to my relief, I absolutely loved it.

Nevernight follows the story of Mia Corvere as she trains at an elite and secret school to be an assassin so that she can take her revenge against the killers of her fallen family. Told by an unnamed narrator, Nevernight is a tightly paced adventure, full to the brim with intrigue, plotting, a dash of romance (but just a dash! Not too much) and so, so many savage murders. This is not a book for the faint of heart. Imagine if Hogwarts was situated in Renaissance Venice and populated entirely by sociopaths all out for their own competing brands of personal, bloody vengeance and you’re somewhat hitting the ballpark of Nevernight.

Mia is a compelling protagonist, fierce and furious, and at no point did I want her to ease off, rather, I wanted her to succeed in her training and get her vengeance. The world is fully built and Kristoff has drawn strongly from actual history but perfectly melded it with fantastic aspects, including a rich depiction of a religion based around two warring deities. It’s beautifully written and the narration is full of personality. It should certainly get bonus points for having one of the best opening lines I’ve read in a while. Kristoff has written an exciting and enthralling read that will appeal both to fans of the genre and to those just in need of a nice chunky story that they can really sink their teeth into.

Isobel Moore is the Children’s Book Buyer at Readings St Kilda.