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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
Real Rating: 4.7!!!!!!!!
I enjoyed this book so much!!!! I really loved Nemesis and how she was a badass but wasn't flaunting it in the way that everyone should respect and love her. She used it as a tool and accepted it for what is was.
The romance was addictive, one that didn't come in at a random time just for the sake of a romance. It felt natural and was so much fun to read.
Overall, it was a really good story that I am so happy to have read and so excited to continue in the next book. :)
I enjoyed this book so much!!!! I really loved Nemesis and how she was a badass but wasn't flaunting it in the way that everyone should respect and love her. She used it as a tool and accepted it for what is was.
The romance was addictive, one that didn't come in at a random time just for the sake of a romance. It felt natural and was so much fun to read.
Overall, it was a really good story that I am so happy to have read and so excited to continue in the next book. :)
THIS BOOK THIS BOOK THIS BOOK THIS BOOK THIS BOOK THIS BOOK THIS BOOK THIS BOOK THIS BOOK HOLY CROW THIS BOOK
Nemesis is created for one purpose, to protect. Her job takes a complete 180 when she is thrown into the political sphere to impersonate the noble she has been set to defend.
Rife with political intrigue and a story that never takes the turns you expect it to, The Diabolic is the start of a story that I absolutely can't wait to finish.
Nemesis is also forced to face the fact that even though she has been "created" to feel a certain way, she has begun to evolve into her own person. She deals with emotions she shouldn't have, decisions that shouldn't be hers to make and a love interest that could be her and the ones she's meant to protect, downfall.
Rife with political intrigue and a story that never takes the turns you expect it to, The Diabolic is the start of a story that I absolutely can't wait to finish.
Nemesis is also forced to face the fact that even though she has been "created" to feel a certain way, she has begun to evolve into her own person. She deals with emotions she shouldn't have, decisions that shouldn't be hers to make and a love interest that could be her and the ones she's meant to protect, downfall.
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This novel started off strong—its universe is interesting and the author did a nice job setting it up without giant chunks of details or lore. However, the last 30% or so totally lost me. As soon as romance entered the picture—especially the brief drift of Sadonia being in love with Nemesis—the story lost some of its luster. It felt completely unnecessary and took away from the otherwise interesting political and family dynamics at play. It also felt like the more we were to believe that Nemesis could feel love, the more repetitive her inner monologue got. Overall, this feels settled as a standalone and though I don't feel the need to read the rest of the series, I would read summaries of what happens due to some of the plot strengths.
This was such a good book OMG
I was not expecting the planets and the creatures and all these humanoids and all the political schemes but I loved every single thing of it!! Nemesis is an amazing character and Tyrus... I don't think there is anyone more clever and smart than him (maybe he is close to Maven but not in that bad way of his)
I honestly cannot wait to see where this story goes 😱😱
I was not expecting the planets and the creatures and all these humanoids and all the political schemes but I loved every single thing of it!! Nemesis is an amazing character and Tyrus... I don't think there is anyone more clever and smart than him (maybe he is close to Maven but not in that bad way of his)
I honestly cannot wait to see where this story goes 😱😱
Nemesis is a Diabolic. Created to protect a galactic Senator's daughter, Sidonia. There's no one Nemesis wouldn't kill to keep her safe. But when the power-mad Emperor summons Sidonia to the galactic court as a hostage, there is only one way for Nemesis to protect Sidonia.
She must become her.
The Diabolic is a Young Adult fantasy/sci-fi with a dystopian aspect to it as well. This is closer to fantasy to me because the sci-fi is very soft with really no explanation behind how any of it works, because much of it probably wouldn't work. The book is set sometime in the far future out in space. I will say that I think this is for older teens as there are some themes in the book that are too mature for younger ones. There is some drug use and a couple of sexual predators that are dealt with at one point. There is also some killing and brutality in this book.
For the most part I really liked it though. It was very readable and hard to put down. It was interesting to read from Nemesis's point of view as she learns and grows and realizes that she is more than just a diabolic - which is a genetically engineered person created to protect, like a bodyguard, and not really considered a person by society. I enjoyed reading as Nemesis came to the realization that she was, in fact, a person with her own wants and needs. I also enjoyed the romance between Nemesis and the person she ends up falling in love with (I won't spoil who that is here).
The political machinations in the book were interesting but not too complicated. This is where I would have liked to have gotten more than one point of view. It would have made Tyrus's decisions more interesting if we had witnessed his thought processes instead of being told from Nemesis's point of view, but that's the downside of first person narration.
I had a hard time believing in the religious aspect of the book where learning new technology is outlawed. I could see if it was outlawed for the lower class citizens, but with the elites having access to that knowledge. That would have been more believable. It would have kept the masses in check and under the Emperor's thumb, but for the Emperor and the whole upper class to also not have this knowledge, was silly. How would they expect to be able to maintain what they already had? And yes, I know we are told in the book that they think the bots will maintain it, but even bots break down eventually and someone has to know how to fix them. Surely they would know that and wouldn't want to lose what they already had, especially since they are living out in space and depend on that tech. So this part of the story was completely implausible to me.
There were a couple of other things that slightly annoyed me. First, there were some inconsistencies in the story. One example of this is the fact that Nemesis doesn't have tear ducts but there are parts of the story where her eyes blur when she is upset like they are filling with tears or something, and her eyes are crusted over when she wakes up once. That can't happen without tear ducts. Plus can you imagine what it would be like to not have tear ducts? Your eyes would be extremely dry. The other I'll put behind a spoiler tag.
There were a few twists in the book that didn't surprise me at all. I predicted every one of them, but I didn't mind that because I enjoyed reading the book so much. As I said, this book kept me glued to it. The sci-fi and space fantasy aspect was very appealing to me, as well as the slow burn romance, which I didn't feel was too overdone. I always like a little bit of romance in the books I read. So in spite of the negatives I've pointed out, I would still recommend this, because I liked it anyway.
Review also posted at Writings of a Reader
She must become her.
The Diabolic is a Young Adult fantasy/sci-fi with a dystopian aspect to it as well. This is closer to fantasy to me because the sci-fi is very soft with really no explanation behind how any of it works, because much of it probably wouldn't work. The book is set sometime in the far future out in space. I will say that I think this is for older teens as there are some themes in the book that are too mature for younger ones. There is some drug use and a couple of sexual predators that are dealt with at one point. There is also some killing and brutality in this book.
For the most part I really liked it though. It was very readable and hard to put down. It was interesting to read from Nemesis's point of view as she learns and grows and realizes that she is more than just a diabolic - which is a genetically engineered person created to protect, like a bodyguard, and not really considered a person by society. I enjoyed reading as Nemesis came to the realization that she was, in fact, a person with her own wants and needs. I also enjoyed the romance between Nemesis and the person she ends up falling in love with (I won't spoil who that is here).
The political machinations in the book were interesting but not too complicated. This is where I would have liked to have gotten more than one point of view. It would have made Tyrus's decisions more interesting if we had witnessed his thought processes instead of being told from Nemesis's point of view, but that's the downside of first person narration.
I had a hard time believing in the religious aspect of the book where learning new technology is outlawed. I could see if it was outlawed for the lower class citizens, but with the elites having access to that knowledge. That would have been more believable. It would have kept the masses in check and under the Emperor's thumb, but for the Emperor and the whole upper class to also not have this knowledge, was silly. How would they expect to be able to maintain what they already had? And yes, I know we are told in the book that they think the bots will maintain it, but even bots break down eventually and someone has to know how to fix them. Surely they would know that and wouldn't want to lose what they already had, especially since they are living out in space and depend on that tech. So this part of the story was completely implausible to me.
There were a couple of other things that slightly annoyed me. First, there were some inconsistencies in the story. One example of this is the fact that Nemesis doesn't have tear ducts but there are parts of the story where her eyes blur when she is upset like they are filling with tears or something, and her eyes are crusted over when she wakes up once. That can't happen without tear ducts. Plus can you imagine what it would be like to not have tear ducts? Your eyes would be extremely dry. The other I'll put behind a spoiler tag.
Spoiler
Then there is the whole part where Nemesis believes that Tyrus is behind Sidonia's death because Cygna tells her he is. I get that it kind of looked that way based on some things Tyrus has said, but who would she trust? Why would she believe anything that woman said? It wasn't believable to me. Also that whole plot to kill her depended on other people doing certain things that Cygna couldn't be sure they would do. Also why bring Sidonia back only to kill her off again for real later?There were a few twists in the book that didn't surprise me at all. I predicted every one of them, but I didn't mind that because I enjoyed reading the book so much. As I said, this book kept me glued to it. The sci-fi and space fantasy aspect was very appealing to me, as well as the slow burn romance, which I didn't feel was too overdone. I always like a little bit of romance in the books I read. So in spite of the negatives I've pointed out, I would still recommend this, because I liked it anyway.
Review also posted at Writings of a Reader
