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starlightbooktales's review against another edition
4.0
Let me start by saying this is a Netgalley review, I received it for free for an honest review.
Also, I am so excited that FINALLY I got approved for a book that wasn’t horrible! I enjoyed this book so much. I love space and I always enjoy a competition so this was an extremely right fit for me. I officially have preordered this book that comes out in September!
This book is a good crossover between The Hunger Games and the 100. A group of kids/teens whatever you want to call them are chosen from all over the world to compete in a competition in space. The winners get to go to a planet called Eden. For competing, the kids will earn an income and healthcare for their families back home. But first, they must compete because not all 10 children are going to go Eden. Only 8 of them will be chosen. Their job on Eden will be mining Nyxia, a substance they are also trained to use. The entire book is compiled of their training and competition. We follow a guy named Emmett, one of the competitors and he desperately needs the money and the healthcare benefits the competition will provide. We watch the friendships and rivalries grow, but everyone has secrets.
The characters were all so different, some I grew attached too. They all had strengths and weaknesses and I cannot wait to explore more of that. The diversity regarding races was so refreshing to see. Not a whole lot of romance, but I like when a story doesn't revolve too much on the romance.
It is an incredibly interesting plot and it kept me wanting more. I am annoyed that I will probably have to wait an entire year for the next book and this book isn’t even out yet! The con of reviewing books I suppose.
But 4/5 stars, can’t wait for the next one. Preferably soon!.
Also, I am so excited that FINALLY I got approved for a book that wasn’t horrible! I enjoyed this book so much. I love space and I always enjoy a competition so this was an extremely right fit for me. I officially have preordered this book that comes out in September!
This book is a good crossover between The Hunger Games and the 100. A group of kids/teens whatever you want to call them are chosen from all over the world to compete in a competition in space. The winners get to go to a planet called Eden. For competing, the kids will earn an income and healthcare for their families back home. But first, they must compete because not all 10 children are going to go Eden. Only 8 of them will be chosen. Their job on Eden will be mining Nyxia, a substance they are also trained to use. The entire book is compiled of their training and competition. We follow a guy named Emmett, one of the competitors and he desperately needs the money and the healthcare benefits the competition will provide. We watch the friendships and rivalries grow, but everyone has secrets.
The characters were all so different, some I grew attached too. They all had strengths and weaknesses and I cannot wait to explore more of that. The diversity regarding races was so refreshing to see. Not a whole lot of romance, but I like when a story doesn't revolve too much on the romance.
It is an incredibly interesting plot and it kept me wanting more. I am annoyed that I will probably have to wait an entire year for the next book and this book isn’t even out yet! The con of reviewing books I suppose.
But 4/5 stars, can’t wait for the next one. Preferably soon!.
uolim's review against another edition
5.0
Had to read this one for school years ago! Absolutely loved it have to do a rr
thebookscript's review against another edition
4.0
I’m giving this book a 4.5 stars. It caught my attention from page one and had me going until the very end. It never got stale, the game was always being changed and the characters, especially Emmett, were all really unique and cool. I liked the wide variety of characters and backgrounds, and it was fun to see what event/game Babel would force them to play next. And even though I’m always one to want some kind of romance in my stories, the basically lack of a romantic story line didn’t even phase me because I was so interested in Emmett’s character development and the friendships he was making. Great, unique sci fi read for kids in middle school all the way up to those who just enjoy YA like myself.
rodeorocks13's review against another edition
5.0
I received an advanced copy through a subscription box.
I usually try and write medium length reviews but I don't have a lot to say about nyxia. It was an exciting read that kept me intrigued. It's great for fans of books like the hunger games, divergent and enders game. Fans of space books in the young adult genre that involve suspense and competitions will love this one. It's worth the read.
I usually try and write medium length reviews but I don't have a lot to say about nyxia. It was an exciting read that kept me intrigued. It's great for fans of books like the hunger games, divergent and enders game. Fans of space books in the young adult genre that involve suspense and competitions will love this one. It's worth the read.
maryfaithreads's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this, but I didn't love it.
Admittedly, this could have been my fault. Due to some health issues this took me much longer to read than a book like this typically would (and of course that could have just affected how much I enjoyed the book in general).
The characters and the friendship aspect were great. I really loved Emmett in particular. Everything just started to feel very repetitive, though. I did really like the writing style, and I felt like it was definitely realistic (not like some authors who sound like they're trying to be "hip" and all that).
I found the Christian symbolism really intriguing, and I'm interested to see how that develops further in the rest of the series.
So, yeah. It was okay.
Admittedly, this could have been my fault. Due to some health issues this took me much longer to read than a book like this typically would (and of course that could have just affected how much I enjoyed the book in general).
The characters and the friendship aspect were great. I really loved Emmett in particular. Everything just started to feel very repetitive, though. I did really like the writing style, and I felt like it was definitely realistic (not like some authors who sound like they're trying to be "hip" and all that).
I found the Christian symbolism really intriguing, and I'm interested to see how that develops further in the rest of the series.
So, yeah. It was okay.
ohaynie's review against another edition
5.0
You can't do half stars on Goodreads so I'll give it a five because I thought it was amazing! I never wanted to put it down. It's such a good science fiction book, with a clear plot and theme, but it also continued to surprise me with every new development.
My only criticism would be that I felt like some of the scenes could've had more emotion in them and needed more of Emmet's internal monologue. It bothered me how seemingly quick he just moved past some events. But overall, Emmet was a great character and we did get to see him develop throughout the book.
And the ending had my heart racing.
My only criticism would be that I felt like some of the scenes could've had more emotion in them and needed more of Emmet's internal monologue. It bothered me how seemingly quick he just moved past some events. But overall, Emmet was a great character and we did get to see him develop throughout the book.
And the ending had my heart racing.
emimia's review against another edition
3.0
2.99/5 stars
Thank you, Netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review
It doesn’t feel right to give this book three stars, but I can’t bring myself to give it two stars. I don’t know what it deserves and I’m just so conflicted right now? Maybe if Goodreads created half star ratings I wouldn’t have this kind of inner turmoil…
There has been so much praise thrown at this book that I’m wondering if I even read the same book as everyone else. I’m usually not a SciFi fan because, like any reasonable person, I realize that space is f*cking terrifying and aliens will one day destroy us all. Yet, I was prepared to throw an entire galaxy of stars at this book before I even began reading it. You can imagine the agony I faced when I realized, about 40% into this book that I was going to end up extremely disappointed.
This book did start out good. Ten random inexperienced kids being paid to go into outer space to mine a mysterious mineral on some far off planet? And they have to compete against each other to see who is top dog because only some of them are actually going to end up on that planet? Then sprinkle in aliens that are obsessed with children. I was so intrigued. I wanted to know why.
So I kept reading, wanting to know why.
And I kept reading.
And I kept reading.
And then I finished the book.
I still don’t know why????
I think that is the first problem I have with this book. It’s going to rely quite a bit on its sequels to help tell its story, but as I read an ARC of this, it’s going to be over a year before I even get my hand on the next book. By then, all I will remember about this book is how big of a let down it was for me.
Now, you might probably not be asking yourself, "Teenagers? Competing against one another in space? Where does that sound familiar?" And which I say to you, [b:Ender's Game|375802|Ender's Game (Ender's Saga, #1)|Orson Scott Card|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1408303130s/375802.jpg|2422333]. And while I do love the Ender's Game movie, I am very vocal about my absolute hatred for the book. And the similarities between Nyxia and Ender's Game were so uncanny to me, I had a difficult time separating my EG hatred from my possible love for Nyxia. I did, however, eventually get over it, but there was still a lasting impression. Which is problem number two for this book: I didn't find the plot all that original.
It also reminded me a lot of that one season of Power Rangers where they go off into space to colonize some planet. But, unlike Power Rangers, Nyxia wasn't full of colorful spandex, wasn't full cheesy dialogue, and wasn't made in the '90s. Talk about even more disappointment.
And that was all the plot was. Them competing. It was 400 pages of Emmett looking at a scoreboard and wondering why his name wasn't in the #1 position. And then going around training. Then competing. Then looking at the scoreboard. And you get the picture.
Anyways let's move onto more reasonable reasons why this book is a bigger disappointment than I am to my parents.
So, if I'm not mistaken here, this is a science fiction book. It takes in the future. The characters are all floating around in space. There are aliens that might one day kill us all. Except there is no science? At all. I was all prepared for giant words I don't understand the meanings of to be thrown around like a typical science fiction book. And with all those words would could scientific explanations and other scientific things. But, like the MIA answers to my many questions, those scientific things never came. Instead, everything was answered by the fictional mineral of nyxia.
How do they travel across space really quickly? Nyxia.
How do they say "fuck you" to the antigravity laws of space and keep their feet on the ground? Nyxia.
How did they create a society where instalove doesn't exist? Nyxia.
Okay so maybe that last one only happened in my dreams, as even this book wasn't immune from the disease that was instalove, and trust me this book is dying from it, but I'm sure nyxia would be able to cure it if it tried.
But let's talk about nyxia for a second because it doesn't make any effing sense to me. It is a mineral. These children are being sent to some far off planet to mine it, to take that natural resource from those big bad aliens. Yet, nyxia can shapeshift. It's pretty much the Pokemon Ditto in rock form. The people in this book can look at it, tell it to turn into a spoon, and it will do whatever they command. Then, for some reason, it also can help make a 27-year-long space journey take only a year? How? Then, to add onto that, it's also self-aware. It won't cure an injury caused by its substance.
No matter how much I try, I can't wrap my mind around it. It doesn't make any sense. How can a rock, a natural resource, be self-aware? How does it have the ability to turn its self into almost any substance? Maybe, if we had a scientific explanation like a reasonable science fiction book should have, I would be able to accept a self-aware rock and move on with my life. But there wasn't one, so I'm just left here eternally confused.
Now, there must be something I liked, considering I did end up giving this book three stars. And that is easy. The characters. They was a giant cast of them, too many for me to go off and list them, but they were all so funny, realistic, and diverse. The main character, Emmett, is a POC from Detroit. There's a girl named Kaya from Japan. Jazzy, from somewhere in the south, is an ex-child beauty pageant contestant Which is my favorite part of this entire story. Probably the only reason I bumped my rating to three stars. If you know anything about me, you'd know about my undying love and devotion to Toddlers & Tiaras. I loved the cast, and if I do end up one day picking up the second book, it will be because of them.
But that also brings me to unanswered question #2319 I have with this book. Why were ten random, inexperienced teenagers that are apparently "broken" sent into outer space? Isn't that, like, incredibly dangerous? These children have no astronaut experience whatsoever . I understand why they sent children, for the aliens really like kids for some unexplained reason, but why not send teenagers who are more equipt to go into space than ten random kids?
Also can we talk about something incredibly irrelevant to the plot but bugged the crap out of me? Emmett had never heard of the story Alice in Wonderland before? Like how have you not? I don't understand? It's never explained how he hasn't ever heard of a 150 year old classic? Also the Disney movie exists? I started to assume maybe books and movies are banned or nonexistent or something in this world, but Kaya owned a copy of the book? And then also later in the book he mentions watching old Disney movies with the other crew mates??? Scott Reintgen please explain.
Then the aliens. Let's talk about the aliens for a second. I forgot what they are called in the book, but that doesn't matter, as the book never goes into much depth about them. We are told about them. But there is no depth. Are those aliens good? Bad? How do they function? Do these aliens have politics? Is there an alien that's like the equivalent of Kim Kardashian? Is there a Kanye West alien as well? How do they live? What drives them? All we got was some corporate human telling us they are bad and the main character wondering if he's lying. We had almost 400 pages full of words that could have been used to give some more details about these aliens and yet they were all wasted on the Emmett trying to master the art of manipulating nyxia. Even the aliens in that one Power Ranger season had more to them and that's a children show about superheroes in spandex.
Then there were plot twists just for the sake of plot twists. And quite a few of them that by the time a major one happened about 60% into the book, I wasn't even surprised. I was even expecting it, to be honest.
I think, maybe, if this book took out a lot of its competition scenes and combined this book with its sequel into one much bigger book I would absolutely love it. But there were just too many unanswered questions for me to really feel absolutely satisfied with it. I think also then, if that happened, this book could separate itself a lot better from other published works.
Well I can see why so many people are throwing praise at this book, it just wasn't for me at all.
Maybe the next space book I plan on picking up will be much better. Probably not. But optimism amiright???
But probably the next book buddy read w/Scrill (if she ever wants to buddy read something with me again) won't be a sci-fi though.
Sorry there's no GIFS in this review. I'm just being really lazy right now.
"Why’d they choose us?"
"We’re all broken. They picked us because we’re broken."
Thank you, Netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review
It doesn’t feel right to give this book three stars, but I can’t bring myself to give it two stars. I don’t know what it deserves and I’m just so conflicted right now?
There has been so much praise thrown at this book that I’m wondering if I even read the same book as everyone else. I’m usually not a SciFi fan because, like any reasonable person, I realize that space is f*cking terrifying and aliens will one day destroy us all. Yet, I was prepared to throw an entire galaxy of stars at this book before I even began reading it. You can imagine the agony I faced when I realized, about 40% into this book that I was going to end up extremely disappointed.
This book did start out good. Ten random inexperienced kids being paid to go into outer space to mine a mysterious mineral on some far off planet? And they have to compete against each other to see who is top dog because only some of them are actually going to end up on that planet? Then sprinkle in aliens that are obsessed with children. I was so intrigued. I wanted to know why.
So I kept reading, wanting to know why.
And I kept reading.
And I kept reading.
And then I finished the book.
I still don’t know why????
I think that is the first problem I have with this book. It’s going to rely quite a bit on its sequels to help tell its story, but as I read an ARC of this, it’s going to be over a year before I even get my hand on the next book. By then, all I will remember about this book is how big of a let down it was for me.
Now, you might
And that was all the plot was. Them competing. It was 400 pages of Emmett looking at a scoreboard and wondering why his name wasn't in the #1 position. And then going around training. Then competing. Then looking at the scoreboard. And you get the picture.
Anyways let's move onto more reasonable reasons why this book is a bigger disappointment than I am to my parents.
So, if I'm not mistaken here, this is a science fiction book. It takes in the future. The characters are all floating around in space. There are aliens that might one day kill us all. Except there is no science? At all. I was all prepared for giant words I don't understand the meanings of to be thrown around like a typical science fiction book. And with all those words would could scientific explanations and other scientific things. But, like the MIA answers to my many questions, those scientific things never came. Instead, everything was answered by the fictional mineral of nyxia.
How do they travel across space really quickly? Nyxia.
How do they say "fuck you" to the antigravity laws of space and keep their feet on the ground? Nyxia.
How did they create a society where instalove doesn't exist? Nyxia.
Okay so maybe that last one only happened in my dreams, as even this book wasn't immune from the disease that was instalove, and trust me this book is dying from it, but I'm sure nyxia would be able to cure it if it tried.
But let's talk about nyxia for a second because it doesn't make any effing sense to me. It is a mineral. These children are being sent to some far off planet to mine it, to take that natural resource from those big bad aliens. Yet, nyxia can shapeshift. It's pretty much the Pokemon Ditto in rock form. The people in this book can look at it, tell it to turn into a spoon, and it will do whatever they command. Then, for some reason, it also can help make a 27-year-long space journey take only a year? How? Then, to add onto that, it's also self-aware. It won't cure an injury caused by its substance.
No matter how much I try, I can't wrap my mind around it. It doesn't make any sense. How can a rock, a natural resource, be self-aware? How does it have the ability to turn its self into almost any substance? Maybe, if we had a scientific explanation like a reasonable science fiction book should have, I would be able to accept a self-aware rock and move on with my life. But there wasn't one, so I'm just left here eternally confused.
Now, there must be something I liked, considering I did end up giving this book three stars. And that is easy. The characters. They was a giant cast of them, too many for me to go off and list them, but they were all so funny, realistic, and diverse. The main character, Emmett, is a POC from Detroit. There's a girl named Kaya from Japan. Jazzy, from somewhere in the south, is an ex-child beauty pageant contestant
But that also brings me to unanswered question #2319 I have with this book. Why were ten random, inexperienced teenagers that are apparently "broken" sent into outer space? Isn't that, like, incredibly dangerous? These children have no astronaut experience whatsoever . I understand why they sent children, for the aliens really like kids for some unexplained reason, but why not send teenagers who are more equipt to go into space than ten random kids?
Also can we talk about something incredibly irrelevant to the plot but bugged the crap out of me? Emmett had never heard of the story Alice in Wonderland before? Like how have you not? I don't understand? It's never explained how he hasn't ever heard of a 150 year old classic? Also the Disney movie exists? I started to assume maybe books and movies are banned or nonexistent or something in this world, but Kaya owned a copy of the book? And then also later in the book he mentions watching old Disney movies with the other crew mates??? Scott Reintgen please explain.
Then the aliens. Let's talk about the aliens for a second. I forgot what they are called in the book, but that doesn't matter, as the book never goes into much depth about them. We are told about them.
Spoiler
We fucking see one halfway through the book and it kills one of our main charactersThen there were plot twists just for the sake of plot twists. And quite a few of them that by the time a major one happened about 60% into the book, I wasn't even surprised. I was even expecting it, to be honest.
I think, maybe, if this book took out a lot of its competition scenes and combined this book with its sequel into one much bigger book I would absolutely love it. But there were just too many unanswered questions for me to really feel absolutely satisfied with it. I think also then, if that happened, this book could separate itself a lot better from other published works.
Well I can see why so many people are throwing praise at this book, it just wasn't for me at all.
Maybe the next space book I plan on picking up will be much better. Probably not. But optimism amiright???
But probably the next book buddy read w/Scrill (if she ever wants to buddy read something with me again) won't be a sci-fi though.
epgr's review against another edition
3.0
3 1/2 stars. A large cast, and the potential to go in several different directions in the sequel.
ebralz's review against another edition
1.0
Maybe listening to this book has skewed my opinion but I felt this book was boring, redundant, and overdone. I also take huge issue with the language the white author thought the person of color main character should use. It didn’t sound accurate at all and was actually quite annoying and took away from the story. I found myself zoning out for most of the book.