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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
Great to read a book where most of the characters are regular people who also happen to be POC. Strong male and female characters and imaginative scifi.
UPDATE:
I received a copy of Nyxia Unleashed today so naturally, I had to reread Nyxia!! Basically once I picked up Nyxia this morning, the outside world disappeared and I lost myself to Emmet's world. I think I enjoyed this book even more so the second time around. But as much as I would love to rave about this book (because come on its a downright amazing book!!), I'm even more eager to go dive into Nyxia Unleashed.
I received an arc copy of Nyxia from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Without a doubt, even though this is an arc copy and isn't out yet, I already know that this has become one of my favorite books. I'm preordering my own copy as soon as possible actually. I enjoyed reading Nyxia so much that I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a fast-paced, action-packed story with a complex main character like Emmett.
Nyxia follows its the main character, Emmett Atwater and his journey into space. Emmet Atwater is mysteriously selected by the Babel Corporation but the amount of money and benefits they're offering has him signing their contract faster than you can say fathom. Emmet along with 9 other recruits all must fight for their spot on Eden, a plant Babel has kept hidden but could make each recruit a millionaire. Babel itself has been hiding from the public eye and is a mystery to everyone. As Babel continues to act suspicious, Emmett and many of the other contestants become suspicious of them and what they're really making them do.
I think I liked Nyxia so much because, from the moment I began reading, I was instantly drawn into the story. I wasn't just competing in the Rabbit Room with Emmett and the others but I was having lunch with them and walking down the nyxia lined corridors. Although our backgrounds are slightly different, I could relate so much with Emmet. I felt the same drive as him to be better, be smarter, be quicker than the others. But I was also anxious to see how Emmett would come out of this competition, how it would affect him and the others. Now that I have finished Nyxia and Emmet is leaving for Eden while leaving behind a cliffhanger and a million questions for readers, I am anxious for the next book.
I received a copy of Nyxia Unleashed today so naturally, I had to reread Nyxia!! Basically once I picked up Nyxia this morning, the outside world disappeared and I lost myself to Emmet's world. I think I enjoyed this book even more so the second time around. But as much as I would love to rave about this book (because come on its a downright amazing book!!), I'm even more eager to go dive into Nyxia Unleashed.
I received an arc copy of Nyxia from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Without a doubt, even though this is an arc copy and isn't out yet, I already know that this has become one of my favorite books. I'm preordering my own copy as soon as possible actually. I enjoyed reading Nyxia so much that I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a fast-paced, action-packed story with a complex main character like Emmett.
Nyxia follows its the main character, Emmett Atwater and his journey into space. Emmet Atwater is mysteriously selected by the Babel Corporation but the amount of money and benefits they're offering has him signing their contract faster than you can say fathom. Emmet along with 9 other recruits all must fight for their spot on Eden, a plant Babel has kept hidden but could make each recruit a millionaire. Babel itself has been hiding from the public eye and is a mystery to everyone. As Babel continues to act suspicious, Emmett and many of the other contestants become suspicious of them and what they're really making them do.
I think I liked Nyxia so much because, from the moment I began reading, I was instantly drawn into the story. I wasn't just competing in the Rabbit Room with Emmett and the others but I was having lunch with them and walking down the nyxia lined corridors. Although our backgrounds are slightly different, I could relate so much with Emmet. I felt the same drive as him to be better, be smarter, be quicker than the others. But I was also anxious to see how Emmett would come out of this competition, how it would affect him and the others. Now that I have finished Nyxia and Emmet is leaving for Eden while leaving behind a cliffhanger and a million questions for readers, I am anxious for the next book.
UPDATE:
I received an arc copy of Nyxia from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I loved Nyxia Unleashed even more than I did Nyxia. Nyxia Unleashed, just like Nyxia, became my favorite book of the year. Once I began reading, I couldn't stop. I'm not ashamed to admit that I finished the book nearly in one sitting. We're introduced to new characters in this book and they are all as complex and intriguing as the characters from the first book. Emmet Atwater is the hero we all want and need! Every character holds a special place in my heart now. Since Nyxia Unleashed isn't out yet, I can't say too much without spoiling it for others. One thing I do want to point out is how Scott Reintgen lived up to my expectations and went above and beyond with this book.
________________________________
.......I AM SHOCKED BEYOND BELIEF
A CLEARER REVIEW WILL COME TO YOU SHORTLY ONCE I HAVE REIGNED IN MY EMOTIONS
HOLY CRAP
I received an arc copy of Nyxia from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I loved Nyxia Unleashed even more than I did Nyxia. Nyxia Unleashed, just like Nyxia, became my favorite book of the year. Once I began reading, I couldn't stop. I'm not ashamed to admit that I finished the book nearly in one sitting. We're introduced to new characters in this book and they are all as complex and intriguing as the characters from the first book. Emmet Atwater is the hero we all want and need! Every character holds a special place in my heart now. Since Nyxia Unleashed isn't out yet, I can't say too much without spoiling it for others. One thing I do want to point out is how Scott Reintgen lived up to my expectations and went above and beyond with this book.
________________________________
.......I AM SHOCKED BEYOND BELIEF
A CLEARER REVIEW WILL COME TO YOU SHORTLY ONCE I HAVE REIGNED IN MY EMOTIONS
HOLY CRAP
Actual Rating: 2.5/5 Stars
Wow I was so bored and just didn't care about anything in this book?! I don't know what happened because I loved Nyxia so so much! But this one just wasn't cutting it for me. I think maybe reading it during the stress of finals and finishing up school made me not so engaged in it?? Not too sure, I just know that I was majorly bored. But the writing is so fantastic though, that's really what pulled me through is that I really love the writing a lot and just thank God for good writing LOL.
///
I'm Buddy Reading this with a lot of fantastic amazing people (who'll I'll link eventually) but I'm super hyped!
And I'm also already behind because it's my last week of Senior Year and I'm trying to finish up exams. SO this should be interesting. LOL.
Wow I was so bored and just didn't care about anything in this book?! I don't know what happened because I loved Nyxia so so much! But this one just wasn't cutting it for me. I think maybe reading it during the stress of finals and finishing up school made me not so engaged in it?? Not too sure, I just know that I was majorly bored. But the writing is so fantastic though, that's really what pulled me through is that I really love the writing a lot and just thank God for good writing LOL.
///
I'm Buddy Reading this with a lot of fantastic amazing people (who'll I'll link eventually) but I'm super hyped!
And I'm also already behind because it's my last week of Senior Year and I'm trying to finish up exams. SO this should be interesting. LOL.
Writing from POC without actual perspective is a no
For a good portion of this book I was pretty sure it was worth a 3 start but the last 25%, especially the final plot twist left me wondering if I should even be generous enough to give it 2.
Emmett Atwater is an average teenager from Detroit. One day, he's called into the principal's office and finds out he won a 'lottery', gifting him the chance to partake in a space mission to a planet called Eden. If he makes it through fierce competition and ranks high enough to be one of the 8 teenagers to actually descend to the planet, he will get $50,000 a week for life, along with other perks. Their mission is to mine a substance called Nyxia, which is incredibly valuable. The reason they need teenagers is that the inhabitants of Eden are only friendly towards children because of their own failure to procreate anymore.
The first thing that really irked me about this book was what I perceived to be racial stereotypes. Yes, the cast is incredibly diverse which was great but not well executed. There are also WAY too many characters. Because of that, none of them (including the main character) are well developed and the whole cast just falls flat. A good portion of this book is dedicated to repetitive trials that the characters face during this competition, which I understood but some of that could have been removed, and instead, they could have focused more on the character relationships outside of the competition. It would have helped develop the characters and break up a lot of the repetitive nature of the book, which I feel could have made a huge difference.
Despite the repetitive issues and the bland characters, I was with the plot until closer to the end. The whole point of this competition is supposed to be to ensure that these people spending billions of dollars end up with the best on the ground for their mining operation because it's becoming increasingly evident this will be a very dangerous task. However, the way they structure these competitions and pair them up against each other makes no logical sense for that purpose. I get that Scott Reintgen wanted to make it more challenging for Emmett and make this a difficult journey but it could have been done more realistically.
I mentioned none of the characters are well developed and the same is true for the relationships. There are two relationships that get a lot of focus (and one that doesn't really) and as the reader we just have no idea why. Like, there's no development at all. It just happens.
As if all of this isn't head-scratching enough, the final plot twist ruined whatever small sliver the book still actually had going for it. Again, it makes zero sense. I've never been fond of evil for the sake of evil but coming from a novel with such poor development in many other aspects I really don't even know why I'm surprised.
And the last bit is probably more of a 'me' thing than a general population thing so it didn't factor into my rating at all but the random religious stuff tucked into everything was just really strange and unnecessary.
I think this book had a lot of potential. The concept was interesting but not well executed at all. Will I read the other two? Yes, but only because I already bought them. Fingers crossed they get better.
Emmett Atwater is an average teenager from Detroit. One day, he's called into the principal's office and finds out he won a 'lottery', gifting him the chance to partake in a space mission to a planet called Eden. If he makes it through fierce competition and ranks high enough to be one of the 8 teenagers to actually descend to the planet, he will get $50,000 a week for life, along with other perks. Their mission is to mine a substance called Nyxia, which is incredibly valuable. The reason they need teenagers is that the inhabitants of Eden are only friendly towards children because of their own failure to procreate anymore.
The first thing that really irked me about this book was what I perceived to be racial stereotypes. Yes, the cast is incredibly diverse which was great but not well executed. There are also WAY too many characters. Because of that, none of them (including the main character) are well developed and the whole cast just falls flat. A good portion of this book is dedicated to repetitive trials that the characters face during this competition, which I understood but some of that could have been removed, and instead, they could have focused more on the character relationships outside of the competition. It would have helped develop the characters and break up a lot of the repetitive nature of the book, which I feel could have made a huge difference.
Despite the repetitive issues and the bland characters, I was with the plot until closer to the end. The whole point of this competition is supposed to be to ensure that these people spending billions of dollars end up with the best on the ground for their mining operation because it's becoming increasingly evident this will be a very dangerous task. However, the way they structure these competitions and pair them up against each other makes no logical sense for that purpose. I get that Scott Reintgen wanted to make it more challenging for Emmett and make this a difficult journey but it could have been done more realistically.
I mentioned none of the characters are well developed and the same is true for the relationships. There are two relationships that get a lot of focus (and one that doesn't really) and as the reader we just have no idea why. Like, there's no development at all. It just happens.
As if all of this isn't head-scratching enough, the final plot twist ruined whatever small sliver the book still actually had going for it. Again, it makes zero sense. I've never been fond of evil for the sake of evil but coming from a novel with such poor development in many other aspects I really don't even know why I'm surprised.
And the last bit is probably more of a 'me' thing than a general population thing so it didn't factor into my rating at all but the random religious stuff tucked into everything was just really strange and unnecessary.
I think this book had a lot of potential. The concept was interesting but not well executed at all. Will I read the other two? Yes, but only because I already bought them. Fingers crossed they get better.
Despite how terrible the ending of the first book was, I'll admit that I went into this with some hope this one would be better. It was not. This read was painful. Thankfully, unlike when I read the Gender Games, there are only three books in this series instead of however many million there were in that one.
I had two expressions for the entire duration of the book:
I'll start off by saying the world-building in this book was horrific. Non-existent. I finally understand why Nyxia is this all-powerful substance (or whatever you want to call it). It's a giant bandaid so no actual development needed to be put into building up this planet.
There are still too many characters. A few of them have one personality trait but those are the special main characters. They are all interchangeable. If there was a convo with no names between two characters and they couldn't reference their background you would have no idea who was talking. You couldn't pick their personality out of a lineup.
The foreshadowing/clues/hints/whatever you want to call it is so heavy-handed. Like, thanks for making it super obvious what's coming next. The characters, though, they're all stupid about all of this very obvious stuff for the sake of the plot. I really hate that in books. Like, there could be a flashing neon sign telling them what's about to happen and they'd be like 'huh, wonder what that means'.
Even in some of the worst books and series I've read, I've always gotten kind of attached to one or two characters. That's not at all the case with this series. They're all so flat. The relationships are practically stapled together. I just don't care. I read that there are some big deaths in the next book and I'm just like 'at least there won't be so many characters'.
Now onto the last book. Can this series be redeemed? I would be so surprised. I'm far less optimistic going into this one.
I had two expressions for the entire duration of the book:
I'll start off by saying the world-building in this book was horrific. Non-existent. I finally understand why Nyxia is this all-powerful substance (or whatever you want to call it). It's a giant bandaid so no actual development needed to be put into building up this planet.
There are still too many characters. A few of them have one personality trait but those are the special main characters. They are all interchangeable. If there was a convo with no names between two characters and they couldn't reference their background you would have no idea who was talking. You couldn't pick their personality out of a lineup.
The foreshadowing/clues/hints/whatever you want to call it is so heavy-handed. Like, thanks for making it super obvious what's coming next. The characters, though, they're all stupid about all of this very obvious stuff for the sake of the plot. I really hate that in books. Like, there could be a flashing neon sign telling them what's about to happen and they'd be like 'huh, wonder what that means'.
Even in some of the worst books and series I've read, I've always gotten kind of attached to one or two characters. That's not at all the case with this series. They're all so flat. The relationships are practically stapled together. I just don't care. I read that there are some big deaths in the next book and I'm just like 'at least there won't be so many characters'.
Now onto the last book. Can this series be redeemed? I would be so surprised. I'm far less optimistic going into this one.
Advance Review Copy.
This book is Ender's Game mixed with a shadowy corporation.
My main complaint though:
This is part of a Trilogy. I think a trilogy should be three related stories that tell an overarching story. For example, Star Wars Trilogy has three movies that have a beginning, middle and end. This seems more like the first third of one story, sort of like the book ending just as the Millennium Falcon reaches what is left of Alderaan.
Characters are ok and nice to have all the characters be minorities and not stereotypes. Would I read the rest of the series... if I had it right there ready to go after I finished this one, probably. However if it is going to be months/years before a sequel comes out, probably not.
This book is Ender's Game mixed with a shadowy corporation.
My main complaint though:
This is part of a Trilogy. I think a trilogy should be three related stories that tell an overarching story. For example, Star Wars Trilogy has three movies that have a beginning, middle and end. This seems more like the first third of one story, sort of like the book ending just as the Millennium Falcon reaches what is left of Alderaan.
Characters are ok and nice to have all the characters be minorities and not stereotypes. Would I read the rest of the series... if I had it right there ready to go after I finished this one, probably. However if it is going to be months/years before a sequel comes out, probably not.
Fantastic from the start. This book is about a bunch of poor teens given the opportunity by a sketchy billionaire corporation to mine a precious substance on a planet with a hostile native population. This first book follows a competition while en route, for who gets to actually set foot on said planet and reap the promised payout for doing so. There are *so* many characters but each and every one has a distinct developed personality, and the main character is one you really root for. I will be binging the next two books in quick succession.