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jeslyncat's review against another edition
4.0
Not bad. In fact, pretty good.
I expected a pretty tacky, sappy beach romance with hunts of forced "end of the world" thrown in. But that's not what I got. While I did struggle to overlook a lot of parallels with [b:The Maze Runner|6186357|The Maze Runner (Maze Runner, #1)|James Dashner|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1375596592s/6186357.jpg|6366642], I liked the characters, the action, and the logic.
I expected a pretty tacky, sappy beach romance with hunts of forced "end of the world" thrown in. But that's not what I got. While I did struggle to overlook a lot of parallels with [b:The Maze Runner|6186357|The Maze Runner (Maze Runner, #1)|James Dashner|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1375596592s/6186357.jpg|6366642], I liked the characters, the action, and the logic.
samdragon's review against another edition
4.0
I won this book on First Reads. I really loved this book, which is impressive because I'm not really a fan of books about romance. I'm sure I would have given it five stars if I was a fan. It took me a while to read this book because I paused it and read other things but I'm really glad that I finally got back to it. I thought that the concept of Nil island was very cool if not a little weird. I'm so happy with the way it ended. I'm going to start reading the second book right away.
zoe_94's review against another edition
2.0
J'aime beaucoup le concept de l'île qui n'est sur aucune carte, la porte qui n'apparaît qu'une fois par jour et SURTOUT l'énigme qu'il faudra résoudre pour percer les mystères de l'île. C'est sans doute pour ça que j'avais beaucoup d'attente avant de lire le livre. J'ai été assez vite déçue, notamment par le caractère très superficiel des personnages: une jeune fille réussit à survivre une semaine sans nourriture et sans se laver et là...coup de foudre pour le garçon qui est sur l'île depuis encore plus longtemps, qui ne mange pas à sa faim mais qui a quand même de super biscoteaux. Hum, pas très convaincant. Ensuite, je trouve que l'énigme aurait pu être tordue et compliquée, pour que l'on s'emmêle d'abord les pinceaux pour ensuite comprendre petit à petit ce qu'il se passe, indice après indice. Dommage.
allieischill's review
5.0
I'm 100% obsessed with this book. I laughed. I cried. I was happy. I was angry. I love when a book can make you feel all kinds of emotions. IM READY FOR THE NEXT ONE!! (Assuming there will be one)
calatheacat's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked Nil, as in the island, not the actual book. It was so diverse, and i liked how random animals would pop in and out, and they'd go, "is the tiger still here? has anybody seen the tiger lately?"
Heheh.
The characters were good, too - I liked Charlie and Thad, but I wish we could have gotten to know some of the background characters. Like, for example, Sergio.
I wasn't really expecting that exact ending- I'd figured they'd find a way to get rid of Nil or something, but whatever. I also would have liked more of Thad's family, and how they reacted when he got home.
But overall, it was really good, I like it a lot.
Heheh.
The characters were good, too - I liked Charlie and Thad, but I wish we could have gotten to know some of the background characters. Like, for example, Sergio.
I wasn't really expecting that exact ending- I'd figured they'd find a way to get rid of Nil or something, but whatever. I also would have liked more of Thad's family, and how they reacted when he got home.
But overall, it was really good, I like it a lot.
carolinevaught's review
5.0
Originally posted on: acrossthebookiverse.blogspot.com
This book just tore out my heart and threw it on the ground like it was nothing. Nil is an amazing, unique story about love, heartbreak, survival, and friendship.
Charley's normal life is thrown out of balance when wakes up naked on an island. Her first thought is that she doesn't even know if she's on Earth let alone if there's anyone else with her. Twelve days of barely scraping by on what little things she could gather, Charley runs into Thad. Thad and Charley are instantly captivated by one another, but neither one knows it. With Thad deemed as Charley's island guide, they have plenty of time to get to know each other. Turns out, people (and warm blooded animals) can appear on Nil any day as long as it's noon. Being on an island with mostly nice, hardworking people doesn't seem entirely terrible. But there's a catch. Each person only gets 365 days to get off the island or they die. With Thad's clock ticking, Charley realizes that she doesn't have as much time as she thought. Will she be able to save both of them? Or will one of them die trying to save the other?
I never stood a chance against this book. With it's stupid beautiful idea and great characters, I was doomed to love it from the start. Don't get me started on Thad and Charley. They are amazing and beautiful and oh so very frustrating. Even if I think their liking for one another was a little sudden, I'll let it slide for how well it was portrayed. They wasted too much time thinking about their feelings and didn't act! If I'm on a deserted island with the guy of my dreams, I will not just stand by and think! Especially if the time is limited!
Li, Natalie, and Rives were my three favourite minor characters and I loved each one for a different reason. And each one of them made me sad for a different reason. I don't want to give too much away because this truly is a great book and I know I say this with a lot of books, but the ending is quite spectacular. All in all, it's a great kick ass story that lovers of the TV show Lost and The Maze Runner would probably go crazy over.
The second book is called Nil Unlocked and the last book Nil on Fire comes out May 31, 2016
This book just tore out my heart and threw it on the ground like it was nothing. Nil is an amazing, unique story about love, heartbreak, survival, and friendship.
Charley's normal life is thrown out of balance when wakes up naked on an island. Her first thought is that she doesn't even know if she's on Earth let alone if there's anyone else with her. Twelve days of barely scraping by on what little things she could gather, Charley runs into Thad. Thad and Charley are instantly captivated by one another, but neither one knows it. With Thad deemed as Charley's island guide, they have plenty of time to get to know each other. Turns out, people (and warm blooded animals) can appear on Nil any day as long as it's noon. Being on an island with mostly nice, hardworking people doesn't seem entirely terrible. But there's a catch. Each person only gets 365 days to get off the island or they die. With Thad's clock ticking, Charley realizes that she doesn't have as much time as she thought. Will she be able to save both of them? Or will one of them die trying to save the other?
I never stood a chance against this book. With it's stupid beautiful idea and great characters, I was doomed to love it from the start. Don't get me started on Thad and Charley. They are amazing and beautiful and oh so very frustrating. Even if I think their liking for one another was a little sudden, I'll let it slide for how well it was portrayed. They wasted too much time thinking about their feelings and didn't act! If I'm on a deserted island with the guy of my dreams, I will not just stand by and think! Especially if the time is limited!
Li, Natalie, and Rives were my three favourite minor characters and I loved each one for a different reason. And each one of them made me sad for a different reason. I don't want to give too much away because this truly is a great book and I know I say this with a lot of books, but the ending is quite spectacular. All in all, it's a great kick ass story that lovers of the TV show Lost and The Maze Runner would probably go crazy over.
The second book is called Nil Unlocked and the last book Nil on Fire comes out May 31, 2016
profuselyjess's review against another edition
4.0
I’ll start this review off by saying that I struggled to get into this book. I outright didn’t like the beginning of it, and it took me a little while to get to the point where I was actually invested in the characters.
Charley, as a protagonist, was somewhat refreshing. Of the books I’ve read recently, she seemed the most capable and strong. She woke up naked on a beach and instantly went into survival mode, which is admittedly not the most realistic response, but it helped me grow to like her. It was a little frustrating having her be described as just glowing and beautiful while she was being the typical teenage girl with self esteem issues. But I really loved how she tried to integrate herself into their society right away – it’s been a while since I read a protagonist who really wants to join in, rather than run away. I also loved that throughout the book she used the fact that she was strong and athletic to her advantage
Thad, oh Thad. I loved Thad. If I were single and you told me I could date any fictional character, Thad would be in my top 3 (assuming that I could also be 17 again, of course!). In his first few chapters, I wasn’t too sure about him. I think that Matson might have struggled to help us understand him before he met Charley and essentially became complete. The idea of a super hot, blond haired, blue eyed Canadian snowboarder who talks like your typical skater/surfer boy made inner teen-Jess swoon repeatedly. And that lazy grin? And that name – Thaddeus Blake? #sigh. He was almost too perfect until the middle/end of the book where he started becoming a bit of the contrary protagonist I’ve become so familiar with.
The supporting cast of characters, though not individually well developed, was clearly crafted with love, and I think it speaks to Matson’s strengths as a writer that I felt a connection or affection for almost every one of the characters she created. In particular, Rives stood out as a character I wanted to know more about, and the same went for Dex, Talla and Ahmad.
The island and the science of the island were pretty interesting, and I’m sorry to say that it went over my head a number of times. I felt like this is a book that would have benefited from having some graphics inserted*because some of the carvings that Charley tries to decipher/work with were hard for me to picture on my own. However, from what I’ve read in the preview for the second book, is seems like we might get some more explanation behind what the heck Nil actually is.
The one big thing that really weirded me out was how many name brand things or places were dropped throughout the book. I guess it’s been a while since I read a book based in the present day, or based in the US, but reading things like Target and Sprite over and over kind of broke the illusion for me, when I think it was likely supposed to do the opposite.
*I read this as a Kindle version and do not know if there are images in the hard copy books.
Would I recommend this book?
Yes. It might take a little while to get into (or not, each person is different) but I think it was a good read. The characters were likable, the romances felt real, the setting was interesting, and the story/plot had enough depth that I had to do some actual thinking (mostly in the case of Charley’s carvings) to keep up with it. If you’re a fan of the “attractive teens trapped somewhere and forced to survive” genre, I’d say this is a must read.
(More of my reviews at: https://readingbetweenthepines.wordpress.com/ )
Charley, as a protagonist, was somewhat refreshing. Of the books I’ve read recently, she seemed the most capable and strong. She woke up naked on a beach and instantly went into survival mode, which is admittedly not the most realistic response, but it helped me grow to like her. It was a little frustrating having her be described as just glowing and beautiful while she was being the typical teenage girl with self esteem issues. But I really loved how she tried to integrate herself into their society right away – it’s been a while since I read a protagonist who really wants to join in, rather than run away. I also loved that throughout the book she used the fact that she was strong and athletic to her advantage
Thad, oh Thad. I loved Thad. If I were single and you told me I could date any fictional character, Thad would be in my top 3 (assuming that I could also be 17 again, of course!). In his first few chapters, I wasn’t too sure about him. I think that Matson might have struggled to help us understand him before he met Charley and essentially became complete. The idea of a super hot, blond haired, blue eyed Canadian snowboarder who talks like your typical skater/surfer boy made inner teen-Jess swoon repeatedly. And that lazy grin? And that name – Thaddeus Blake? #sigh. He was almost too perfect until the middle/end of the book where he started becoming a bit of the contrary protagonist I’ve become so familiar with.
The supporting cast of characters, though not individually well developed, was clearly crafted with love, and I think it speaks to Matson’s strengths as a writer that I felt a connection or affection for almost every one of the characters she created. In particular, Rives stood out as a character I wanted to know more about, and the same went for Dex, Talla and Ahmad.
The island and the science of the island were pretty interesting, and I’m sorry to say that it went over my head a number of times. I felt like this is a book that would have benefited from having some graphics inserted*because some of the carvings that Charley tries to decipher/work with were hard for me to picture on my own. However, from what I’ve read in the preview for the second book, is seems like we might get some more explanation behind what the heck Nil actually is.
The one big thing that really weirded me out was how many name brand things or places were dropped throughout the book. I guess it’s been a while since I read a book based in the present day, or based in the US, but reading things like Target and Sprite over and over kind of broke the illusion for me, when I think it was likely supposed to do the opposite.
*I read this as a Kindle version and do not know if there are images in the hard copy books.
Would I recommend this book?
Yes. It might take a little while to get into (or not, each person is different) but I think it was a good read. The characters were likable, the romances felt real, the setting was interesting, and the story/plot had enough depth that I had to do some actual thinking (mostly in the case of Charley’s carvings) to keep up with it. If you’re a fan of the “attractive teens trapped somewhere and forced to survive” genre, I’d say this is a must read.
(More of my reviews at: https://readingbetweenthepines.wordpress.com/ )
rampion12's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 Insta Love... yet it kind of worked? Why would the first book have different main characters than the rest of the series?
heartofhandprints's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this story! Well written, especially for a debut author, and very well paced. The story never lost the intrigue brought by the question of survival right up until the last page.
staceyhust88's review against another edition
4.0
Oh my goodness!! This book!!! What a ride! The suspense, the mystery, the romance...I just couldn't get enough. From the get go you are caught up in the question "What is NIL?" and you feel like you're in a whirlwind until the very end.
The writing was very well done, I could feel the sun on my skin through the author's descriptions and the characters brought the book to life. I became invested in their outcomes and found myself cheering them on.
If I am disappointed at all it is because I'm left wondering what happens to the rest of the cast but since this is mainly Charley and Thad's story I knew to expect an open/closed ending. The story is told from both the POV's of Thad and Charley but it was soo well done that I actually enjoyed them, which is a big thing for me to say!!
What I'm trying to say is mark your calendars for the release date and make sure you pick up NIL, you won't regret it!!
The writing was very well done, I could feel the sun on my skin through the author's descriptions and the characters brought the book to life. I became invested in their outcomes and found myself cheering them on.
If I am disappointed at all it is because I'm left wondering what happens to the rest of the cast but since this is mainly Charley and Thad's story I knew to expect an open/closed ending. The story is told from both the POV's of Thad and Charley but it was soo well done that I actually enjoyed them, which is a big thing for me to say!!
What I'm trying to say is mark your calendars for the release date and make sure you pick up NIL, you won't regret it!!