A review by novelheartbeat
Zero Repeat Forever by G.S. Prendergast

5.0

The world is gone. It was taken from us, the way a massive heart attack takes a life. Swiftly, ruthlessly, almost as though there is nothing personal about it.

HOLY. SHIT. YOU GUYS. There are not enough words to properly describe how much I LOVED this book! And the more time that passes, the more I love it. I can't get it out of my head. I thought about it all day the following day after I finished it. I just can't stop thinking about it! It's really gotten under my skin in a way that not many books do.

I knew exactly three things going in to this book:

1. It had a GORGEOUS cover


2. It was about aliens


3. It had been compared to the 5th Wave

I knew next to nothing about the actual story. I'm sure I read the synopsis when I first added it, but let's be honest I'd forget my head if it wasn't attached to my body. So, I went into this with a blank slate and little to no expectations. I hadn't even seen reviews about the book to know whether people were liking it or not. And I was BLOWN AWAY!

Zero Repeat Forever was FUCKING BEAUTIFUL. Beautiful writing, beautiful characters, beautiful story. And absolutely BRILLIANTLY written. In the beginning I was intrigued, and it was good, yeah, but I probably could have walked away. It didn't feel particularly unique. But when Raven and August met everything changed. I was HOOKED. I couldn't stop reading. I gobbled up this book in one sitting, which never happens for me these days!

The idea of the Nahx was brilliant!! That part was very unique - I loved how they spoke in hand gestures instead of language, and how they had ranks and strange armor that they connected to. I love that we know hardly anything about them - we're not even sure if they're organic or mechanical. Are they robots? Or humanoid? I was super intrigued by the air of mystery surrounding them.

AUGUST. Oh my lawd I loved August to pieces. He was so fucked up guys, but he was so tragic and innocent. He thinks he's defective, and refuses his mission: dart the humans. Leave them where they fall. He doesn't want to be a killing machine. His child-like innocence despite being bred as a killer was endearing to me, and he was a very complex and interesting character. I found myself getting attached to him, rooting for him. I wanted Raven to fall for him. Which is probably kind of weird since he's an alien in a mechanical suit. But he was so very human, and struggling with his humanity, it never seems weird.

The fact that he did so many things for Raven - everything, really. He did everything for her - was unbearably sweet. And also tragic. It broke my heart that she hated him and he STILL did his best for her despite the torture of her hatred. It was kind of creepy at first, honestly, but his feelings for her were so pure that it was still rather beautiful. I love that she slowly warmed to him, came to understand him. And it happened literally through the course of the WHOLE book - he may have been slightly obsessed with her from the beginning and yes, it was insta-love on his part - but it took her the entire book to come around to where they finally had a companionship. And I found their relationship to be unspeakably beautiful.

THE TITLE YOU GUYS. Oh my gosh even the meaning of the title is brilliant and beautiful! I'm not going to tell you what it means because it's spoilery and I want you to find out for yourself too! I even loved the term Nahx because they were basically darkness incarnate and it sounds like nox, which means night!

Concerning the complaints/comparisons to The 5th Wave: It felt VERY much like the 5th Wave did and there were honestly a lot of similarities. BUT it was still its own story and I loved it WAY more than the 5th Wave (which I loved when I read but the TERRIBLE movie kind of ruined it a bit). This book is pitched as The 5th Wave meets Beauty and the Beast. I didn't really see BatB so much, but I will say that the one scene where Raven and August had their major fight really reminded me of the wolf scene in BatB! It had a very similar vibe to it, where it seems like the end but it's really a turning point (I don't really know how else to describe it).

The ending of this book SLAYED me!! I was sobbing, you guys. And there was a nice little twist in there that I so did not see coming - (inserting a spoiler here for both this book AND the 5th Wave so DO NOT READ unless you've read them both!)

Spoiler

despite the comparisons and similarities to the 5th Wave! IT WAS THE HUMANS OMG. When August pulled his mask off, I was totally expecting him to be human-like. However, what I was NOT expecting was for him to actually BE human! I was totally blown away!! They are clones?! And getting darted doesn't kill humans?! Oh my god I am DYING to know what happens to them! Do they turn into the Nahx?!

Spoiler

I had a sneaking suspicion that August was the Nahx that killed Tucker. I did see that coming. But I was shocked that it was actually Tucker who engaged first, and August was more or less innocent! *sobs a little*

This book gave me all the feels (even the title gives me feels now that I know what it means!) and I am DYING to see what happens in the next book! Bravo, Gabrielle!

Update 11/10/2019 THE AUDIO

I loved Siiri Scott and James Patrick Cronin! I am now a fan of James as a narrator and will actively be searching for more books narrated by him in the future. I LOVED him as August! It made me love August all the more. He really brought his innocence to life. Siiri was the perfect Raven, too - exactly how I would imagine her sounding! The audio made the characters feel so much more real. I will say, though, the beginning was waaaay slower on audio. I forgot how slow the book starts off, honestly. I got pretty bored with it until August and Raven met, and even after the trailer park scene I had forgotten how long it took for them to come back together and I was getting a bit impatient >.<

This review was originally posted on Novel Heartbeat. To see a breakdown of my assessment, please visit the full review here.