Blog Tour and Giveaway: Nil on Fire by Lynne Matson

Welcome to my stop of the Nil on Fire blog tour! This is the conclusion to this LOST-esque series. Today, Lynne Matson is saying good-bye to one of her beloved characters (he's one of my personal favorites!). And there is a giveaway!

Nil review | Nil Unlocked review | Nil on Fire review

A note from Lynne, and her farewell letter to Rives

Okay, Alyssa, before we get to the post, I have to give you some serious love and thanks! You’re part of the original #NILtribe, and I’m truly grateful for every Nil-related post, every review, every tweet, every rec you’ve shared about the Nil series over the past few years. Your time is packed and precious, and I’m so appreciative you chose to give some of your blogging (and reading!) time to my characters and the entire Nil world. So from the bottom of my author heart, THANK YOU for all you’ve done to spread the word about the Nil series! *HUGS*

*sniffs*

Oh, and one more thing! 

A quick note to all my readers: THIS POST GUTTED ME. Oh my land, I had no idea what I was in for when Alyssa asked me to write a farewell letter to Rives. Finishing a trilogy is both bitter and sweet, and saying goodbye to Rives was HARD. I had not idea how emotional I’d get. (So thank you Alyssa for making me teary lol). I wrote this letter to Rives—the Rives you meet at the start of NIL ON FIRE, the Rives who risked his heart and found the love of his life in NIL UNLOCKED, the Rives who already survived Nil and who is desperately worried about Skye. This is the Rives I wrote to. Happy reading! 

P.S. To the #NILtribe: NIL ON FIRE is for you.

Farewell Letter to Rives

Hi Rives!

I thought I’d write you a note to say thank you. Thank you for being Thad’s wingman in NIL, and for becoming such a huge part of the Nil story that you needed not just one more book, but two. Thank you for having Charley’s back as much as you have Thad’s, and thank you for being the strongest and most vulnerable character I’ve ever written. Thank you for daring to risk your heart again in NIL UNLOCKED, and for being the perfect match—an equal—for Skye.

Which brings me to NIL ON FIRE. This is the last time you’ll hear from me before the next chapter of your story unfolds. I know Skye is a blind spot for you—or rather, your feelings for her sometimes obscure the truth; your feeling keep you from seeing things as they actually are. Please don’t forget to see the girl you fell in in love with—the strong, resilient fighter who is as selfless as you are—and as independent. Don’t let her push you away.

I know you’ll ignore my advice, and I know you’ll probably not be happy when you discover I’ve sent you back to Nil. Believe me when I tell you it was the only way. Skye agrees; she told me herself. And you won’t like the ending either, but again—it is how it must be. Keep the faith, and don’t let your blind spot grow so big you lose sight of the person standing in front of you. Skye needs you, even at the end. Especially at the end. And remember: some things aren’t meant to be seen; they are only to be felt.

Take care, Rives. Thank you for the memories, and for your role to come. Be strong. Be brave. And above all, be you. 

I wish you well. *cries*

Godspeed. 

xo

Lynne

*wipes eyes*

Alyssa—thank you for having me today! And to you and all my readers, thank you for sharing Rives and Skye’s journey with me! And the journey of all the characters in the Nil world—including Nil itself. It’s been a fun ride!

You find out the end soon…:)

xo

Lynne

[Edited to add - I love this letter so much. Thank you, Lynne! *hides under tissues*]

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About the Book:

Nil on Fire by Lynne Matson

Book Three of the Nil series

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.

Publication Date: May 31, 2016

Summary (from Goodreads):

Despite Rives and Skye's attempt to destroy Nil, the island remains. And back in this world, Nil won't let Skye go. Haunted by a darkness she can't ignore, Skye wrestles with Nil nightmares that worsen by the day and threaten to tear her apart. As Skye fights to keep her mind intact, she realizes that to finally break free of Nil, she must end Nil's vicious cycle once and for all--and she can't do it alone.

Who will return to Nil, and in the end, who will survive? In this thrilling final installment of the Nil series, the stakes have never been higher: everyone's fate hangs in the balance, including Nil's own--and Nil will fight to the death. When the full force of the island is unleashed, Skye faces an impossible choice, a cruel one she'd never imagined she'd have to make. Soon one Nil truth becomes painfully clear: only one side can win.

Losing isn't an option, but winning will cost Skye everything.

Perfect for fans of Lost and survivalist stories, NIL ON FIRE is a stunning conclusion to the Nil trilogy that will leave readers breathless.

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | The Book Depository

Check out the rest of the series!

  

(Click on the covers to go to Goodreads!)

The Giveaway:

Win a finished copy of Nil on Fire! USA only, ends 06/08. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow the Tour:

Too Fond of Books - May 17th

Reading Teen - May 18th

Xpresso Reads - May 19th

That Artsy Girl - May 20th

The Reading Nook Reviews - May 21st

SciFi Chick - May 22nd

The Eater of Books! - May 25th

A Backwards Story - May 27th

Fierce Reads - May 29th

Book Addict's Guide - May 30th

Wastepaper Prose - May 31st

Review: Nil on Fire by Lynne Matson

Nil on Fire by Lynne Matson

Book Three of the Nil series

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.

Publication Date: May 31, 2016

Rating: 3 stars

Source: eARC sent by the publisher

Summary (from Goodreads):

Despite Rives and Skye's attempt to destroy Nil, the island remains. And back in this world, Nil won't let Skye go. Haunted by a darkness she can't ignore, Skye wrestles with Nil nightmares that worsen by the day and threaten to tear her apart. As Skye fights to keep her mind intact, she realizes that to finally break free of Nil, she must end Nil's vicious cycle once and for all--and she can't do it alone.

Who will return to Nil, and in the end, who will survive? In this thrilling final installment of the Nil series, the stakes have never been higher: everyone's fate hangs in the balance, including Nil's own--and Nil will fight to the death. When the full force of the island is unleashed, Skye faces an impossible choice, a cruel one she'd never imagined she'd have to make. Soon one Nil truth becomes painfully clear: only one side can win.

Losing isn't an option, but winning will cost Skye everything.

Perfect for fans of Lost and survivalist stories, NIL ON FIRE is a stunning conclusion to the Nil trilogy that will leave readers breathless.

What I Liked:

I liked this book, but not enough to give it a very positive rating. Three stars is positive, but I'm a little disappointed that I didn't like this book more. I think a lot of it had to do with personal preferences and likes/dislikes, and I think others might really like this book.

When Rives and Skye escaped Nil in Nil Unlocked, they thought they were finished with the island. But Skye has been having terrible dreams about a darkness, and a girl calling her back to Nil. Little by little, Skye begins to shut out Rives. So what can they do? Skye and Rives decide to go to the Death Twins islands in Hawaii, along with Thad and Charley, to try and stop the island once and for all. But the four of them get sucked right back into the thick of things, and they find themselves back on the island. Paolo is there, along with a dozen or so new inhabitants. Together, the teens try to solve the riddles and destroy Nil forever. But at what cost?

The beginning part of the book is fairly boring, not going to lie. Things really start to get interesting when Rives, Skye, Thad, and Charley go to the islands to stop Nil, but end up getting thrown back onto the island. And just like that, they need to figure out how to how to destroy Nil in three months, when the equinox rolls around.

This book is very much focused on Rives and Skye, and not so focused on Thad and Charley. All of the characters play a huge role in the story, but Rives and Skye are our protagonists. I love Rives! He is an alpha teen male, a leader, and a protective, loyal boyfriend. Part of me thinks Skye doesn't deserve him - he's too good for her (see more on this below).

Matson does a great job in fleshing out all of the characters, despite there being so many of them. Zane is so hip and cool, and I love the way he talks. Hafthor is calm and wise. Carmen is craaaazy. Paolo is intelligent and deep. Lana is constantly in denial (in my opinion). Molly and Davey are so cute. You see what I mean. Each character has their own personality, each is different in their own way. Sometimes when you have so many characters, they can start to blur together. Not so, with these secondary characters.

This book is well over four hundred pages, and I would say that the last one hundred and fifty pages or so are the really exciting ones to read. It felt like nonstop planning, figuring out, twists, revelations. Like everything was finally coming together and people were finally understanding things. The climax was action-packed too! I felt like the ending was abrupt, but the action leading up to it was good.

I enjoyed the edge-of-your-seat action, trying to find out if they would succeed in destroying Nil or not, trying to figure out the clues. Fun stuff! Scary stuff. Overall this is a good conclusion novel, and it probably does the series justice. I just did not like it as much as I liked Nil and Nil Unlocked.

What I Did Not Like:

From the start, I just could not deal with Skye. I remember liking her in Nil Unlocked? I pretty much hated her from page one of this book. Everything about her rubbed me the wrong way. She refused to open up to Rives in the beginning. Why? Pride, tough-girl-attitude, she doesn't want to stand behind her boyfriend... there is a difference between a man swooping in and fixing your problems, and someone offering to help you. It doesn't break the rules of feminism to accept help.

And this attitude is present throughout the entire book. Skye just does not lean on Rives, does not let him in. She pushes him out every single time things get worse. She leaves him in the dark, and most of the time, for no good reason. Honestly I want to say she's dumb or crazy or mental but then I try to remember that she has Nil in her head... but no, some of the (poor) decisions she made when it came to Rives were all on her own.

There were some seriously cheesy, poorly written lines in this book. I would pull the lines directly but I've lost access to the book so I can't share them (my fault for reading this eARC at the last minute). There was a lot of "telling" where there could be "showing", and cliches upon cliches. Who even says things like "I'm a big girl" when trying to express a feminist point about something or the other? In the context of the situation, it seemed so 90's and totally cliche. You'll just have to trust me - this was one example of many.

So basically, I couldn't stand Skye. I wish this book weren't so dependent on her! Why did the author focus just on her (and Rives, by default)? Literally all of the bad things in this book (like, the four of them landing in Nil again in the first place) could have been avoided if Skye had been smarter.

It's hard to love a book when you hate the book's protagonist.

Would I Recommend It:

I totally recommend this book, if you've read the other two in the series. There is no way you can't! This book is action-packed and the ending, while abrupt, does wrap up the loose ends. It's a good conclusion novel, especially if you like Skye. I liked her in Nil Unlocked but hated her in this book, so there really is no telling.

Anyway, if you haven't read any of the books in the series, I'd caution you. You're not necessarily missing out on much if you decide you're not interested in the series. It's a fun (and sometimes creepy) series, but not life-changing or anything. Just an honest opinion.

Rating:

3 stars. I seriously wish I could rate this book higher - not that 3 stars is particularly low. I'm a huge fan of the author (she's so nice!) and I loved the first two books, so it hurts me to rate this book less than four stars. But hopefully my points make sense! Like I said in the beginning of this review, it could very well just be me.

Author Blog | Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble

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Waiting on Wednesday (#157): Nil on Fire by Lynne Matson

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week, I'm featuring:

Nil on Fire by Lynne Matson

Book Three of the Nil series

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.

Publication Date: May 31, 2016

Summary (from Goodreads):

Despite Rives and Skye's attempt to destroy Nil, the island remains. And back in this world, Nil won't let Skye go. Haunted by a darkness she can't ignore, Skye wrestles with Nil nightmares that worsen by the day and threaten to tear her apart. As the island grows in power, Skye fights to keep her mind intact. Soon Skye realizes that to finally break free of Nil, she must end Nil's vicious cycle once and for all--and she can't do it alone.

Who will return to Nil, and in the end, who will survive? In this thrilling final installment of the Nil series, the stakes have never been higher: everyone's fate hangs in the balance, including Nil's own--and Nil will fight to the death. When the full force of the island is unleashed, Skye faces an impossible choice, a cruel one she'd never imagined she'd have to make. As the island's clock ticks away, one Nil truth becomes painfully clear: only one side can win.

Perfect for fans of Lost and survivalist stories, NIL ON FIRE is a stunning conclusion to the Nil trilogy that will leave readers breathless.

Author Blog | Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Nil review | Nil Unlocked review

I can't wait to read this final novel! The wait has been agony so far!

Blog Tour Guest Post with Lynne Matson, Author of Nil Unlocked (and GIVEAWAY!)

Welcome to the blog tour for Nil Unlocked by Lynne Matson! I'm super excited to help promote this wonderful and thrilling sequel novel! Check out Lynne's guest post below, and enter the giveaway!

Nil review | Nil Unlocked review

Meet Lynne!

I’m really excited to be on Alyssa’s blog today! Today I’m talking covers, and more specifically, cover changes.

This very thing happened to me with NIL. 

NIL’s first cover channeled the Survivor and LOST vibe to the max. It had silhouettes of the teens, some of which looked a bit like my characters, and some which didn’t. It had the tagline I’d created, “They can’t stop the clock; they can only hope to beat it,” and it had a shadowed island that I loved.

Here’s the original cover of NIL that was on the galley copies:

I’m not gonna lie; I LOVED holding my book in my hands, with the story I’d created tucked between the pages. It was the culmination of a dream in printed form. And the cover! I loved the font, the tallymarks (so perfect! and they swirl like a clock—or  a wormhole!), and the island in shadows. But I’ll admit, I kept staring at the silhouettes. I knew they weren’t meant to represent any particular characters—that they were instead meant to represent the various teens passing through Nil at any given time—but I couldn’t stop trying to find Charley and Thad in the images. Same for Rives, Natalie, Talla, and Bart. None of them exactly matched the images in my head, although I think I found Heesham and Sy.:). But I was cool with it.

Flash forward the period between the ARC’s (Advance Reader Copies, or ARE’s, Advance Reader Editions) and the final copy. My publisher decided to take the cover in a different direction, to better capture the feel of the book. At first I was like, “whoa, we’re changing the cover?!” *cue worry* because I was a debut author and clueless and well, sometimes I’m a worrier.:D Then I saw the new cover, and I was all “YES! WE’RE CHANGING THE COVER!” *cue screams of happiness* 

All the things I loved from the first cover (the font, the tallymarks, the island) stayed, and THE NEW COVER WAS SO MUCH BETTER, because the island became the focal point. I especially loved the water and the blue, and the eeriness coupled with the fresh tag line. The minute I saw the new cover I knew it was THE ONE. (Weird, I know. lol) For me, NIL’s final cover was perfect, and the gritty matte finish was sandy icing on the island cake.

Here’s proof:

I honestly can’t imagine any other cover for NIL. The island is the core of the story and the series, so it’s totally fitting that the island takes center stage on the cover. As y’all probably know, NIL tells a story of two characters’ time on the island (Charley and Thad), but as you learn in NIL UNLOCKED, there are so many Nil stories to be told. But the one constant factor? The island.

Which brings me to NIL UNLOCKED. The island-as-the-focal-point theme continues on the cover. As with NIL, the cover of NIL UNLOCKED is equally perfect for the story contained within it’s pages. Darker, with colors of night and blood and murky water, plus the tallymarks and a fresh cool font—and the island has the spotlight! 

See for yourself:

Totally Nil, totally perfect, right from the start.

So there you have it! Cover changes, cover love. The publishing truth that book covers often change, but they often change for the better. They definitely did for me.:) 

I also need to give a shout-out right now to April Ward, Macmillan’s incredibly talented cover designer for the NIL series. Thank you, April, for your creative brilliance in bringing the Nil world to life on my covers!:)

Thanks, Alyssa, for having me! You’ve been such an amazing part of the #NILtribe since Day One, and I’m so, so grateful.:)

xoxo

Lynne

Thank YOU, Lynne, for visiting! Happy release week - we hope you had a lovely pub day! :)

Follow Lynne online!

Blog | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter | Tumblr

Check out the Fierce Reads tour - Lynne will be touring!

About the Book:

Nil Unlocked by Lynne Matson

Book Two of the Nil series

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)

Publication Date: May 12, 2015

Summary (from Goodreads):

On the island of Nil, the rules are set. You have exactly 365 days to escape—or you die. Rives is now the undisputed Leader of Nil City, but keeping the City united is tougher than ever.

Raiders have grown bolder, supplies are dwindling, and non-human inhabitants have taken a turn toward the deadly. New arrivals cause rifts within the City, putting the Search system at risk, and calling everything Rives knows into question. Desperate for answers, he teams up with the only other person searching for them: Skye, a new arrival with a mysterious past of her own. Soon the duo find themselves locked in a desperate race to save all the residents of Nil—and possibly destroy the island forever. But at what cost? And who will pay the price?

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | The Book Depository

Read an excerpt of Nil Unlocked!

Check out my Science in Fiction feature, spotlighting Nil Unlocked for the month of April!

The Giveaway:

Win a paperback copy of Nil and a hardcover copy of Nil Unlocked! Courtesy of Macmillan. USA only, please.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow the rest of the tour!

Monday, May 11

Adventures of a Book Junkie

Tuesday, May 12

The Book Addict’s Guide

Wednesday, May 13

The Eater of Books

Thursday, May 14

Bookiemoji

Friday, May 15

Melissa’s Eclectic Bookshelf

Monday, May 18

The Reading Nook Reviews

Tuesday, May 19

Bewitched Bookworms

Thursday, May 21

MacTeenBooks Blog

Friday, May 22

That Artsy Reader Girl

Science in Fiction (#3): Nil Unlocked by Lynne Matson

Welcome to this month's Science in Fiction feature! Science in Fiction is a meme I created to showcase the wonderful aspects of science in Young Adult fiction novels. For more information and previous feature, check out the "Science in Fiction" tag!

This month, I'm featuring Nil Unlocked by Lynne Matson!

Nil review | Nil Unlocked review

This is the companion sequel to Nil, a continuation of the world of Nil with different protagonists. This series deals with a mysterious island, in which teenagers from the real world are taken randomly and dumped onto the island. There, they must figure out how to get off the island before a year - or they disappear. This particular tangentially mentions nuclear weapons/nuclear bombs.

So today, I'm going to talk about nuclear weapons!

And what a lovely coincidence it is for a second Science in Fiction feature in a row, that a huge event is having an anniversary around the time of my post. The Chernobyl disaster occurred on April 26, 1986, just about 29 years ago. Serious proof that nuclear anything - weapons, energy, etc. - is highly risky and hazardous.

Nuclear weapons are among the most dangerous weapons known to mankind. One nuclear bomb could kill millions of people, and have harmful effects years after it explodes. Nuclear weapons have been used twice in history, in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

Many treaties have been created since 1946, in the attempt to limit the number of nuclear weapons in the world. However, everyone is/should be aware that the United States, Russia, and several other countries have nuclear weapons within their possession, and are most likely developing more as we speak. Or type. Etc. Just recently, Obama and his administration have been making concessions with Iran, lifting sanctions and pretty much allowing Iran to continue making its generation bomb without having the United States take any sort of action, direct or indirect. THIS article is a bit biased, but very informative on that particular matter.

Nuclear weapons, while very powerful and great for threatening people (not that I condone that), are quite scary, to say the least. THIS article goes through a bit of the history of the weapons. Many countries use/want to use nuclear weapons, but the whole world will be affected, should just one country use the weapons.

Environmental and Health Effects of Nuclear Explosions:

- Serious environmental contamination: Chernobyl is the most intense example of this. To this day, the Chernobyl site is uninhabited. On April 26th, it will have been 29 years since the disaster of this nuclear power plant. Keep in mind, this was a nuclear power plant, and not a nuclear bomb. However, the effect on the environment is quite similar: people died from exposure to radiation, people are affected long-term from cancer and other illnesses, uranium persists, etc. See HERE for before and after photographs, and HERE for some seriously haunting photographs taken recently!

- Cancer, decreased fertility, leukemia, and other conditions are possible health effects of exposure to nuclear radiation.

- Biomagnification: this is basically when a chemical is absorbed into a creature, and then another creature eats that creature, and so on, and the chemical keeps traveling. For example, if uranium is absorbed into grass, and cows eat the grass, and humans eat the cow... well, uranium 238's half-life is 4.5 billion years. So, that uranium isn't going anywhere.

- The mushroom clouds that are produced by nuclear explosions block the sun, reducing photosynthesis, which seriously effects food chains. Remember, photosynthetic organisms are the pillars of almost every single food chain on this planet.

- Less sunlight = shorter growing seasons. That has worldwide implications - imagine a world with not enough food for EVERYONE. We already suffer from world hunger issues in most countries. Imagine all cities, all countries, having strict rationing policies, because of shorter growing seasons.

- Ozone depletion: more ultraviolet radiation will be able to pass through the ozone layer. This is detrimental to the environment as well as human health.

- Human birth defects, fatigue, nausea, and death (obviously).

- See more health effects HERE.

Bottom line? Nuclear weapons are scary. So is nuclear energy, but that's a different ballgame. I'm talking about nuclear bombs specifically, but both nuclear weapons and nuclear energy are incredibly dangerous. It's no wonder you have ideas like superpowers coming from radiation, by getting bitten by a radioactive spider, or exposure to nuclear waste (Family Guy reference!). Anything nuclear is incredibly powerful, incredibly innovative, and incredibly unsafe. Personally, I wish nuclear weapons didn't exist, but they do. Nuclear energy is really efficient but very poor for the environment, so it's not the best technology to use, long-term. Ideally, no one should live in fear of anything, but especially something as awful as nuclear weapons.

Any opinions? Thoughts on nuclear weapons? Nuclear energy?

Review: Nil Unlocked by Lynne Matson

Nil Unlocked by Lynne Matson

Book Two of the Nil series

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)

Publication Date: May 12, 2015

Rating: 4 stars

Source: ARC sent by the publisher

Summary (from Goodreads):

On the island of Nil, the rules are set. You have exactly 365 days to escape—or you die. Rives is now the undisputed Leader of Nil City, but keeping the City united is tougher than ever.

Raiders have grown bolder, supplies are dwindling, and non-human inhabitants have taken a turn toward the deadly. New arrivals cause rifts within the City, putting the Search system at risk, and calling everything Rives knows into question. Desperate for answers, he teams up with the only other person searching for them: Skye, a new arrival with a mysterious past of her own. Soon the duo find themselves locked in a desperate race to save all the residents of Nil—and possibly destroy the island forever. But at what cost? And who will pay the price?

What I Liked:

I thought Nil was pretty great... this book was either as good, or better! It's a tie in my head, and that's totally okay because both books were really, really good! Both are very solid, very well-written science fiction/thriller/Lord-of-the-Flies-esque novels. This book is on the longer side, but the story had me by its claws. I couldn't stop reading!

Rives has a few months left before he disappears from Nil, lost to known. Charley and Thad caught gates and are (hopefully) made it home (remember, Rives has no way of knowing this, though we as readers now, after the ending of Nil). Meanwhile, we have Skye and her odd father, who are both out searching for Nil. Skye's uncle (her father's brother) was on Nil years ago as a teenager, and returned, haunted by his experience there. Skye's father is convinced that Nil existed. Skye isn't as convinced... until she finds a way into the mysterious island. Now Skye has her own Nil countdown, but she's also armed with knowledge of Nil. Skye, Rives, and the rest of the teenagers on the island don't have long before something immense happens, and it's too late to save themselves.

I remember finishing Nil and thinking, that's it? No more? What about all the questions I have? There were soooo many unanswered questions at the end of Nil, and there was no mention of a sequel or a companion, at that point. This book, Nil Unlocked, functions well as a standalone, by the way. The protagonists are not the same protagonists as in Nil, though the protagonists in Nil do appear in this book. So you can read this one without having read Nil. In any case, I read Nil, and I read this one, and a lot of questions I had from Nil were answered in this book. Obviously I'm not going to enumerate what was revealed in this book (that would be involving lots of spoilers), but I will say that I was satisfied with the amount of answers I got from this book. Finally!

Rives is one of two protagonists in this book. We get his first-person perspective, and Skye's. I actually didn't have a preference as to who I liked better - I liked them both, and enjoyed reading from both of their perspectives. Usually I'll like one more than the other, but that wasn't the case with this book. Which is great!

Getting into Rives' head was an experience. He's weighed down by the role of Leader. He genuinely cares about all of the teenagers in the City, and wants to protect them all. It burdens him more than anyone else when someone is hurt, or dies, or runs out of time. Rives comes across as calculating and quiet, but he is not the unfeeling creature he appears to be. Actually, he doesn't really appear to be unfeeling. Maybe... shut down. Everyone knows he cares so much about everyone, but everyone can also see that he is lonely, and burdened. I like Rives a lot. I can't remember my impression of him in Nil, but I thought he was pretty great in this book. He's very careful, very observant, very protective, very selfless.

Skye is flame to his ice. She is impulsive - she goes with her strange, half-crazy astrophysicist father to find some mysterious island that doesn't exist. Or does it? When they arrive at an island in the ocean, she does some investigating of her own... and follows a boy through a gate, to Nil. She and the boy are now on Nil, with their own Nil countdowns. But the boy knows much more than he's telling her, and that includes a wealth information about Nil, and how to leave.

I liked Skye! She is calm and rational (most of the time), but also impulsive and fierce. Her father always thought Nil was real (because of his brother), and he had Skye train and prepare and learn random survival because of his fear of Nil. As it would turn out, those skills came in handy. Skye is a fighter, and she is very smart. 

We get to know a lot more about Nil's history, and why it is exists. We find out how it came about, its purpose, and much more about the "rules" of Nil. There is a sciencey aspect to some of the explanations, which is cool. There are other more strange aspects too. I can't say much without giving anything away, so I'll leave it at that. I'm so glad I read this novel, because it gave me the answers I needed! And it was a really good book.

The story never ceased to be interesting, and the pages started to fly by as I kept reading. There was a serious creepy factor to this book - there were times when the story seemed chilling and a bit scary. Of course, I'm terrified of even the slightest "scary" thing - I hate scary movies and horror fiction and all that jazz. There were some points in this book when I was slightly terrified. But this is a good thing! Notice I'm not putting this comment in the "dislikes" section below.

There IS romance! And it is a semi important part of this book, though not the whole plot of the story. Rives and Skye fall for each other slowly and subtly, and it takes about seventy-five percent of the book for either of them to really recognize their feelings. Or maybe a little less than that. Either way, the romance in this book is really sweet. Rives needed someone like Skye, and I'm really glad he could have someone with him on Nil, until the end.

The end... what an end. I'm thinking there has to be a third book to this series? I think I remember the author telling me that she was working on one. I think it was Lynne. The ending of this book is satisfying in most ways, but there is definitely room for a third novel. Like, the ending silently screams for one! Not necessarily a cliffhanger, because this book ends well, but I would be highly interested in seeing a third book in this series!

What I Did Not Like:

I can't thinking of anything at the moment... Lynne Matson is AMAZING. Her writing, storytelling, world building, etc. is excellent!

Would I Recommend It:

YES! I recommend this book - or series in general. Remember what I said, this book can be read as a standalone! The series seems to be a companion series of a sort. Different protagonists in each book. Which makes me curious as to who the third book will feature... I have an idea of the male. Anyway. I like this series! Science fiction, thriller, survival story, whatever you want to call it, I like it!

Rating:

4 stars. Nil and this book actually aren't my typical reads - I'm not a fan of survival stories - but I'm glad I gave the series a shot last year, when I won a giveaway for an ARC of Nil. I love how that worked out! Now, book three!

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Review: Nil by Lynne Matson

Nil by Lynne Matson

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)

Publication Date: March 4, 2014

Rating: 4 stars

Source: ARC sent by the publisher

Summary (from Goodreads):

On the mysterious island of Nil, the rules are set. You have 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 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 she has to find a way to beat the clock, and quickly.

What I Liked:

I was super excited for this book for many long months, so you can imagine my excitement when I LOVED it! It's one of the best feelings, when you wait for a book for like, FOREVER, and then read it, and love it! And it's even better when the author is totally cool and you secretly pray and hope that you love his/her book, so you can fangirl about the book (as opposed to disliking his/her and not being able to fangirl over the book). 

One second Charley is in Georgia. The next second, she isnt. She wakes up (naked) on the island of Nil. For twelve days, she is alone, and then she meets two boys - Thad, and Jason. Thad and Jason take her to the City, where there is a group of teenagers living, hunting... surviving. To get off the island, each teenager must go the way they came - through a shimmering gate. But the gates don't seem to have a schedule to them, and come unexpectedly. And no one stays more than a year - if they do (without catching a gate), they die.

One thing that immediately jumped out at me is that I really liked Charley. She is not weak or stupid, two traits that I'm sick of seeing in YA literature (not ALL YA books, obviously. In fact, most do not feature such a heroine). She is actually pretty strong, both mentally and physically. She's an athlete (that's something we don't see often), and she's TALL (also something we don't see in YA books). She doesn't go completely insane in love with Thad, nor does she act like a complete nutcase on the island. I really like Charley, and I feel like she and I would actually be very good friends, if she were a real person. Both of us are resilient, mentally strong, physically strong, compassionate, passionate, and intellectually intelligent (analytic, almost).

I also really like Thad. He is an amazing leader - as he should be, as he has been on the island for a very long time (nearly the longest - when Charley arrived on Nil, he wasn't too far away from a year). He's kind and thoughtful, yet uncertain and human, as we see more when he is around Charley than not. I loved the thread of indecision that plagued him throughout the book, whether it was his number of days left, or Ramia's warning, or the threat of danger and rogues. And I'm not going to lie - he sounds HOT. That definitely does not hurt!

The plot of this book really had me interested and invested. I wanted to peek at the ending of the book SO MANY TIMES, to know how it ended, but I did NOT do it (yay!). I read through the entire book in one sitting, and it took everything I had not to read the end. But I'm glad I didn't. The ending is really great. But the plot of the book would lead you to believe that the ending could not happen. The plot was very complex and intricate. We weren't just concerned with finding gates - there were rogues and crazy beasts and patterns and island life. Crazy stuff!

Matson keeps things interesting by layering the plots, as I alluded to above. This book is all about survival. Charley, Thad, and the others in the City work together to Search for gates for those with Priority (those who are closest to being on Nil for a year). It's curious how this works, as there the conflict of stealing someone else's gate when you don't have priority is addressed. I must say, this book does have some creepy scenes, with skulls and feelings of being watched and sleepless nights. So freaky and weird and great!

This book is like a contemporary version of Lord of the Flies by William Golding. I read that book a few years ago, and enjoyed it. This book is also like the TV show "Survivor". I bet people are going to be all like, ooo, this book wasn't original, it was a ripoff of Lord of the Flies and "Survivor"! Well, I don't think so. The basic idea of being forced to survive on an island is constant, yes, but no one knows how or why the teenagers are chosen to be on Nil. It's mysterious...

This book is told in the perspectives of Charley and Thad, alternating between the two, in first-person point-of-view for both. I really like this - it's a great way to connect with two different characters, and see things from the perspectives of two different characters. Also, we get to see Charley and Thad's feelings for each other slowly develop and change, and that's cool.

This book is set up so that each chapter counts the amount of days that either Charley or Thad (depending on whose point-of-view we're reading). This is really cool, but it's also handy because Matson skips days (or weeks) at a time. It speeds things up, right until the climax - which is Thad's "expiration date" (when he reaches 365 days on Nil). I like this, and it didn't seem like Matson rushed things at all. The pacing of the book was excellent, even with Matson skipping days at a time.

The ending. The ending is really great, in my opinion. I'm going to talk about it a little in the next section, but I'm mostly satisfied. DO NOT PEEK. Whatever you do, read the entire book, cover to cover. Do NOT look at the end before reading the rest of the book. You will not want to read the rest of the book. Just read the entire book.

What I Did Not Like:

The only things I really had trouble with was several areas of plausibility. YES, this is fiction. YES, I could just use my imagination and let the story be. But I found loopholes. Like, why exactly were the teenagers on the island? Who chose them? Where did the island come from? Who made the rules? What happened when the teenagers died? Why teenagers? 

You can't just give the answer of "No one knows", every single time. Many of these questions are raised in the book (Charley asks Thad or others), but I feel like none of them are actually answered. There is a theory tossed around, about parallel worlds or universes or alternate realities or basically holes in time and space, which makes sense (and I would totally roll with any of those), but none of them are solidly accepted as the explanation.

Like, I wanna know. Don't leave me hanging! If this book were part of a series, even a companion series, then I would totally NOT question these things! Or, I would question them, but in my head. I wouldn't see them as "negative" aspects of the book, because I would hope that they would be explained in the future books of the series.

But ending this book with no key explanations? Don't do that! I need to know! 

Would I Recommend It:

Despite whatever I just typed in the "What I Did Not Like" section, I definitely think you should make this novel one that you'll read in 2014 (or in the future). I think science fiction fans will like this one (though they might question EVERYTHING, like me), and definitely romance fans and contemporary and thrillers fans will enjoy this book. It's really great! It pulls in a lot of cool aspects, and while I wasn't completely satisfied with the lack of explanations, it has a riveting plot and superb ending.

Rating:

4 stars. What a fantastic debut! I'll definitely be looking out for more novels by Lynne Matson.

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