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A review by narcissia
Nobody by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
2.0
Meh. 2.5? I liked the concept of Nobody, but the execution didn't do it for me.
Claire is angsty and Nix is self-loathing, which is understandable. But the story spends a little too much time on that and not enough time on the cool stuff like assassins and conspiracies and action. The romance is an insta-love and, though it makes a little sense that they'd each be immediately drawn into a desire for some kind of an intimacy with the only other person in the world who can actually see them, remember them, care about them, and that they would be craving that attention and affection after many years of not having a connection with anyone, I still feel like the relationship development is too intense, too fast. The story takes place in about a week and already there were I love yous and forevers being thrown around. Character development is something that I wanted more of, beyond the feelings of loneliness, angst and self-loathing. I would rather have seen less time spent on the angst and self-loathing (even though I think that stuff should definitely be in there), and more time spent on the working toward a common goal and getting to know each other as the characters develop through their personalities and interactions.
The plot has a pretty quick pace, for the most part. The world building was ehh, but there were some scenes that do stand out in the mind, such as Nix's stark white room. Some of the science could have been better explained, and there were things that went beyond science that didn't make much sense at all, but still could have worked for me if those ideas and the fantastical reasoning behind them had been explored a little more/better.
There are still some fun scenes in the book that I enjoyed and it is quick and decent enough that I finished it, but overall I'm feeling pretty meh about it because I wanted more from it. Nobody had potential but unfortunately I feel like that potential was not met. Others might like the romance and find this to be an adorable story, etc., etc. But I wanted ASSASSINS. I wanted sneaky killers. I wanted vengeance, preferably of the cold and ruthless sort. And I didn't really get that. I got more fluff and less ASSASSIN, and that just wasn't what I was hoping for.
Claire is angsty and Nix is self-loathing, which is understandable. But the story spends a little too much time on that and not enough time on the cool stuff like assassins and conspiracies and action. The romance is an insta-love and, though it makes a little sense that they'd each be immediately drawn into a desire for some kind of an intimacy with the only other person in the world who can actually see them, remember them, care about them, and that they would be craving that attention and affection after many years of not having a connection with anyone, I still feel like the relationship development is too intense, too fast. The story takes place in about a week and already there were I love yous and forevers being thrown around. Character development is something that I wanted more of, beyond the feelings of loneliness, angst and self-loathing. I would rather have seen less time spent on the angst and self-loathing (even though I think that stuff should definitely be in there), and more time spent on the working toward a common goal and getting to know each other as the characters develop through their personalities and interactions.
The plot has a pretty quick pace, for the most part. The world building was ehh, but there were some scenes that do stand out in the mind, such as Nix's stark white room. Some of the science could have been better explained, and there were things that went beyond science that didn't make much sense at all, but still could have worked for me if those ideas and the fantastical reasoning behind them had been explored a little more/better.
There are still some fun scenes in the book that I enjoyed and it is quick and decent enough that I finished it, but overall I'm feeling pretty meh about it because I wanted more from it. Nobody had potential but unfortunately I feel like that potential was not met. Others might like the romance and find this to be an adorable story, etc., etc. But I wanted ASSASSINS. I wanted sneaky killers. I wanted vengeance, preferably of the cold and ruthless sort. And I didn't really get that. I got more fluff and less ASSASSIN, and that just wasn't what I was hoping for.