Review: NIL (NIL #1) by Lynne Matson

Book Title: NIL

Author: Lynne Matson

Published Date: March 4th, 2014

Publisher: Henry Holt & Co.

Genre: YA/Science Fiction

Series: Book One in NIL trilogy.

Book Link: Goodreads

Purchase Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, The Book Depository

Synopsis from Goodreads:

On the mysterious island of Nil, the rules are set. You have one year. Exactly 365 days–to escape, or you die.

Seventeen-year-old Charley doesn’t know the rules. She doesn’t even know where she is. The last thing she remembers is blacking out, and when she wakes up, she’s lying naked in an empty rock field.

Lost and alone, Charley finds no sign of other people until she meets Thad, the gorgeous leader of a clan of teenage refugees. Soon Charley learns that leaving the island is harder than she thought . . . and so is falling in love. With Thad’s time running out, Charley realizes that to save their future, Charley must first save him. And on an island rife with dangers, their greatest threat is time.

Disclaimer: I own this book.

Review:

I honestly had no idea what to expect with this book. I had really high hopes for it, but wasn’t sure if it would deliver. And for a little while, I wasn’t sure it would. It was a bit slow in the beginning, which worried me. But by the time I reached page 80, it had picked up and I was captivated by the story. Plus, if it’s going to be compared to my all time favorite TV show, LOST, then the chances are pretty high that I’ll fall in love with it.

I had a hard time trying to figure out what genre I’d put this book in. It was obviously YA, but there were several sub-genres that I could have put it in. There was romance, there were paranormal elements and there was science fiction. In some ways, I find these kind of books the most compelling because there are multiple elements involved and they each do their part to tell the story.

Even though Charley & Thad were considered the main characters, I really loved Natalie. She was so vulnerable, so realistic. I loved how she trusted Thad and Charley despite all of the craziness going on. She cared about all of NIL’s inhabitants. She had a good heart, a caring heart.

NIL itself was interesting. Not only was it an island but it also seemed to be personified. I’d never seen this in a book before, so that was captivating. Was NIL also a person or was she seemingly personified because of the mental health of all the inhabitants.

“To NIL we come, from NIL, some go, and some like me, will stay. The clock winds down, our time runs out, and NIL will have her way.”

That is probably the creepiest song I’ve ever heard. Legitimate shivers. Not a lot was said about Ramia, but I was so, so curious about her. I actually had some theories about her and her connection to NIL. I probably spent a bit too much time thinking about her and her possible connection to NIL.

Now Charley & Thad. I understand that a lot of people were a bit iffy on how quickly things developed between them, but this wasn’t typical life. They were on an island for goodness sakes. It’s not like they had a million other life things to attend to, Yeah they were off searching for gates and even newcomers, but there was more time to develop a relationship. I liked them together, I rooted for them to get together and that is a great feeling to be able to do.

“You’re right, Charley. NIL does change the way you see things. NIL makes everything more clear. What’s important, what matters. And for me, that’s you.”

This book stressed me out completely. I can’t exactly say why it did, as it could be considered very spoilery, and I really don’t want to ruin it for others. But, I absolutely loved it and highly recommend it. I am giving it 5 stars and I cannot wait to read NIL Unlocked, which I’ll be starting ASAP.

Review: Nearly Gone by Elle Cosimano

Book Title: Nearly Gone

Author: Elle Cosimano

Published Date: March 25th, 2014

Publisher: Kathy Dawson Books

Genre: YA Thriller

Standalone

Book Link: Goodreads

Purchase Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, The Book Depository

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Bones meets Fringe in a big, dark, scary, brilliantly-plotted urban thriller that will leave you guessing until the very end.

Nearly Boswell knows how to keep secrets. Living in a DC trailer park, she knows better than to share anything that would make her a target with her classmates. Like her mother’s job as an exotic dancer, her obsession with the personal ads, and especially the emotions she can taste when she brushes against someone’s skin. But when a serial killer goes on a killing spree and starts attacking students, leaving cryptic ads in the newspaper that only Nearly can decipher, she confides in the one person she shouldn’t trust: the new guy at school—a reformed bad boy working undercover for the police, doing surveillance. . . on her.

Nearly might be the one person who can put all the clues together, and if she doesn’t figure it all out soon—she’ll be next.

Disclaimer: Library book.

Review:

I had my eye on this book for months. I was so excited about it and desperately could not wait to get my hands on it. Totally worth the wait!

Nearly Boswell knows how to keep secrets. She doesn’t talk about the fact that her mom is an exotic dancer at Gentleman Jim’s. She doesn’t talk about how her dad walked out on them several years ago, and she certainly doesn’t talk about the fact that her mother and her are living in a trailer park. But her other secret, the one about the personal ads, is about to take on a more sinister nature.

She scoured the personal ad, desperately hoping that one day, she’ll see something from her beloved father. She didn’t think much of the first ad that she noticed,

Newton was wrong. We clash with yellow.

Find me tonight under the bleachers.

But by the time the second one appeared, Nearly knew that something was going on, but she wasn’t quite sure what it was.

Archimedes knew the play wasn’t really the thing.

Do the math and find me after the show.

These little clues gave Nearly an idea about who was going to be targeted next. She was also being taunted by cryptic and chilling messages that were carved into her desk in chemistry and messages were appearing her locker, slipped in the locker vents.

As the messages become more mathematically advanced, the murders become more violent.

We all fall down. The tower will point the way.

It’s 68 ft. higher than three times a side of its square base.

If the sum of these two is 1,380 at day’s end you’ll know

where to find me.

At this point, whispers are beginning to run around the school. Nearly has a connection with these victims. Questions are running rampant around the school. Nearly is climbing to the top of the suspect list.

I’m serious. I’m done chasing my tail, trying to be the big dog.

I’m the brightest. Lie back and watch me shine. 

While all this craziness is going on, Nearly’s friends Jeremy and Anh are barely speaking to her. Nearly’s forming a bond with troublemaker, Reece Whelan. He’s working undercover and he’s supposed to be keeping an eye on her. What neither of them ever expected was that they would fall for one another.

Isosceles had the right angle.

The Torpedo is a straight shot to the Yards.

Follow my tracks.

This book was fabulous. I cannot say enough awesome things about it. I was worried that some of the math concepts would go over my head as I am absolutely awful at math, but I didn’t have any problems with it. Actually, I think it added a very unique element to the story. 

The pacing was perfect for the story. It was fast paced, leaving my heart racing. I couldn’t wait to figure out what was going to happen next. I couldn’t wait to find out if any of my theories were correct (spoiler alert, they weren’t) I love it when I am unable to guess the ending. That makes the book even better.

I must buy a copy of this book for my own personal library. Then, I’ll push it on everyone and I won’t stop until everyone has read it. 5 stars to this fast paced, exciting roller coaster of a book. 

Review: The Edge Of Falling by Rebecca Serle

Book Title: The Edge Of Falling

Author: Rebecca Serle

Release Date: March 18th, 2014

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Genre: YA/Contemporary

Standalone

Book Link: Goodreads

Pre-Order Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Growing up in privileged, Manhattan social circles, Caggie’s life should be perfect, and it almost was until the day that her younger sister drowned when Caggie was supposed to be watching her. Stricken by grief, Caggie pulls away from her friends and family, only to have everyone misinterpret a crucial moment when she supposedly saves a fellow classmate from suicide. Now she’s famous for something she didn’t do and everyone lauds her as a hero. But inside she still blames herself for the death of her sister and continues to pull away from everything in her life, best friend and perfect boyfriend included. Then Caggie meets Astor, the new boy at school, about whom rumours are swirling and known facts are few. In Astor she finds someone who just might understand her pain, because he has an inner pain of his own. But the more Caggie pulls away from her former life to be with Astor, the more she realises that his pain might be darker, and deeper, than anything she’s ever felt. His pain might be enough to end his life…and Caggie’s as well.

Disclaimer: I received this e-ARC from Simon Pulse via Edelweiss in exchange for my honest review.

Review:

This book was one of my most anticipated reads, but when I finally got to sit down and read it, I wasn’t interested enough to keep reading it. I would pick it up, read a few pages and then put it back down. I was hoping for a better pace to the story and more likable characters. Unfortunately I really only liked two of the characters. The rest of them seemed very superficial and their ability to be a true friend when Caggie needed them was definitely lacking.

There was a love triangle which normally I don’t mind but ugh I did not like the new guy, Astor at all. He gave me the creeps and I desperately wanted Caggie to return to Trevor. While Trevor had made some mistakes, he clearly still cared about Caggie. I didn’t know what Astor cared about but I don’t think it was Caggie. I think he was very disturbed and it took Caggie longer than it should have, for her to realize that.

Grief is processed differently for every person but I really wished that Caggie’s parents and brother were there for her more. Especially her parents. They were very cold and standoffish, which really bothered me. 

Caggie was convinced that her parents blamed her for Hayley’s death and watching how her parents reacted to her and about her, I suspected that she was right. The idea that Caggie lived with this guilt day in and day out was absolutely heartbreaking. For the most part I loved Caggie,but her attraction to Astor made no sense and once she started dating Astor I found her less likable.

The author spent a really long time with the inconsequential details which really bothered me.It was time that could have been spent developing some of the characters better like Astor & Claire along with the members of her family. These details centered around the fashions that were worn and I found myself skipping past those details because I honestly didn’t care about them and didn’t understand why the author thought they were so important.

The ending basically saved the book for me. Many times prior to reaching the end, I considered not finishing it and labeling it as a DNF (Did Not Finish) but I am glad I finished this book. I didn’t love it but I also didn’t hate it. The end was full of surprises and the pace had quickened which I was thrilled about.At the end we also found out the truth about what happened that night she supposedly saved a classmate from ending her life. Honestly that was something I had guessed awhile before so I felt a little bit let down about that.

So this book gets 3 stars. Some of it I loved like Caggie and Caggie & Trevor’s relationship as well as the ending. Yet some of it I hated like the lack of character development for everyone but Caggie, Caggie & Astor’s relationship and the telling of very minor and in my opinion, unimportant details.No I would not recommend this book, however other people have liked it so give it a try if you want to.

Review: Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy

Book Title: Side Effects May Vary

Author: Julie Murphy

Release Date: March 14th, 2014

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Genre: YA/Contemporary

Standalone

Book Link: Goodreads

Pre-Order Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository

Synopsis from Goodreads:

What if you’d been living your life as if you were dying—only to find out that you had your whole future ahead of you? 

When sixteen-year-old Alice is diagnosed with leukemia, her prognosis is grim. To maximize the time she does have, she vows to spend her final months righting wrongs—however she sees fit. She convinces her friend Harvey, whom she knows has always had feelings for her, to help her with a crazy bucket list that’s as much about revenge (humiliating her ex-boyfriend and getting back at her arch nemesis) as it is about hope (doing something unexpectedly kind for a stranger and reliving some childhood memories). But just when Alice’s scores are settled, she goes into remission.

Now Alice is forced to face the consequences of all that she’s said and done, as well as her true feelings for Harvey. But has she done irreparable damage to the people around her, and to the one person who matters most? 

Julie Murphy’s SIDE EFFECTS MAY VARY is a fearless and moving tour de force about love, life, and facing your own mortality.

Harvey laughed to himself in a sad way and rubbed his eyes. “You want me to help you with a list of things you won’t disclose to me.” He leaned forward and bit the skin around his thumb. “Classic.”
“You won’t regret it.”
“But—”
“Harvey,” I said, my voice low. “Trust me.”
I knew what this looked like. It looked like I was using Harvey. But here was the reality of the situation: the minute my life went from semi-permanent to most likely temporary, I decided to latch on to everything in my world that had always been permanent, and for me, Harvey was so permanent he was concrete.

Disclaimer: I received this e-ARC from Balzer + Bray via Edelweiss in exchange for my honest review.

Review:
I had heard a lot of amazing things about this one months ago. It was starting to show up on fellow readers’ Goodreads lists, and recently, ARC’s were becoming more available. So when Edelweiss put this one up, I snatched it in a hurry. I am a real sucker for the “tough subjects” books. You know, the cancer books, the terminal illness books as well as other tough subject books.

I was a little nervous when I started this one. Mostly because many of the people who have already read it, loved it. While I didn’t love it, I definitely liked it a lot. When you are told that your cancer is in remission, you feel a variety of different emotions. It’s especially strange after you’ve been told that there’s nothing more they can do and that you will die and probably soon.

That’s how Alice feels. She knows that she should be over the moon excited that her life is not nearing an end,at least not yet, and that she has time to be with her loved ones. Yet, that’s not how she feels. Now that she’s not dying there are things that she feels that need to be done. Admittedly, she uses the boy who has loved her, to her advantage.

Harvey knows that Alice knows that he’d do anything for her. He’d help humiliate the boy she dated before she got sick. He’d help humiliate the girl who her boyfriend was cheating on her with.He doesn’t grow a backbone until the book is nearly over. That really bothered me. While I know that Alice feels like she needs to do this, it’s hard to be understanding when she is so obviously using the boy who loves her.

I liked Alice pretty much the whole time even though I know there were parts where she was pretty mean. Until you’ve been in her position, you really cannot say how you’d react to the news that your seemingly incurable cancer is in remission.

I loved all the parental involvement in this book. I mean having Alice’s parents involved was practically a given since she had such a serious illness. Having Harvey’s mom, Natalie so present in the book was awesome. I really loved how all five of them were so close. It was like a big happy family at times. You don’t usually have that in YA books.

I didn’t love the dual POV combined with switching from the then and now time periods. At times it just got really confusing. I think it would have been better had Julie picked one. Either a dual POV or then & now time periods. At the beginning, I kept having to flip back a few pages on my Kindle because I would get confused about the timelines.

I cried a little bit in the beginning and a little bit in the end, so the feels were there, but not as much as I was expecting them to be. I am a bit disappointed that I didn’t love this one like I wanted to, however, I did like it a lot and that is why I am going to give it 4 stars. Yes I would absolutely recommend this book.