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A review by ellelainey
Project Nought by Chelsey Furedi
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
TROPES: forced proximity, cloning, forced confinement, experimentation on teens, grumpy/sunshine, tech geek
This was okay, but I'll be honest - from the hype this book gets, I was expecting more. I'm disappointed at how slow the pacing was, that it didn't really lead anywhere, the ending was...confusing.
One of my favourite things about books is understanding where the title comes from. This book's title references a part of the plot that is actually never explained. There is a literal project called Project Nought, but there's no explanation of what that means. Is it "nought" because it's before the start, or the start or something, or because they're creating something from nothing, or it is just another way of saying Project Not, because it's not what it seems? I'll never know, and that is both irritating and confusing.
For me, I found the initial concept interesting - Ren is in 1998, falls and wakes up in 2122 as part of a future program where people from the past are brought to 2122 for five months, so that students can learn history from first hand sources. Sure, sounds great.
Except...the entire first half is SO boring. It flits about, trying to introduce too many characters, and I don't connect with any of them. There's no explanation for the 5 months, and the fact that these people from the past have to help fill out HOMEWORK - projects, talks and basically be a living, breathing science project - is so wrong in so many ways and a total waste of time, IMO.
There was a heavy emphasis on this Project taking place in New Zealand, but absolutely NO explanation of why that was overly emphasised. Where were the other people, who kept mentioning this, because I assume they were NOT in New Zealand. Either I missed it or it's just never mentioned.
Maybe it's a UK vs NZ thing, but I couldn't help but read all the stuff about 1998 and cringe! It was written as though 1998 was in the Dark Ages. I don't know about the authors, but the basic terms and behaviours displayed by the future kids - which the 1998 kids had no concept of - was overly emphasised as being "unusual" when it was pretty much part of life, from what I experienced in school in 1998. I mean, the concept of various genders - using they as a pronoun - and sharing bathrooms between sexes was treated by the 1998 students as cringey and completely foreign. That was never my experience - back in 1998, we just didn't care! People were who they were and I, personally, knew quite a few LGBT people in high school during the mid-to-late 1990's.
When it comes to characters, I REALLY didn't connect to any of them. For me, I didn't "like" any of them, even in the smallest way. Phoebe was flighty and pushy, getting an instant crush on Jia. Mars was pretty similar, only WAY more flamboyant and exuberant. I thought his being a super tech geek might come in useful, but it really didn't go anywhere other than his little robot pets. For the main love interest, I actually find Mars quite irritating, selfish and materialistic, so focused on his own wants and ideals that he can't see the bigger picture. Jia is rude, obnoxious and wrapped up in her own problems to the extent that she causes more trouble than she helps. Ren is just constantly all doom and gloom, the stereotypical loner loser, who has no friends but ends up everyone's favourite.
I didn't buy Phoebe and Jia's romance, or Mars and Ren's. While the story supposedly took place over months, it just didn't feel like anything but insta-love from both Mars and Phoebe, with Jia and Ren putting up VERY little resistance.
By the end, I saw ZERO character growth.
And...sorry, but Twilight references in 2122?? Seriously? I'd have thought there would have been better options by then...
In the end, I found the ending of the story to be confusing and unnecessarily complicated. When investigating Project Nought, they discover files stating that the government are "creating" from scratch (I'm being deliberately vague to avoid spoilers! Sorry!) yet later, there's a word constantly bandied about that says they're not creating, just copying. But...copying what? Memories, genetics, date? Where did they get access to all of that? How? Why? When did it start? What was the end goal? We'll probably never know, because the two main bad guys escape and are never seen from again.
The addition of the last few pages - showing Ren finally meeting Georgia - were completely unnecessary and confusing, because it threatens to undermine and complicate the plot twist they've just spent about 20 pages revealing!
For me, it was a mix of trying too hard and taking too long to get to the point. If the whole first half had been condensed, they would have had more time and energy to spend on fleshing out the ending. I should really be giving this a 2*, for all its faults, but it's 3 for a few reasons -
1) I finished it. I could have DNF'd, but I didn't.
2) The art was really well done and well presented.
3) There are far less picky people who will probably love this for the twists, unique plot and diversity.
Sadly, I just couldn't look past the execution issues.
This was okay, but I'll be honest - from the hype this book gets, I was expecting more. I'm disappointed at how slow the pacing was, that it didn't really lead anywhere, the ending was...confusing.
One of my favourite things about books is understanding where the title comes from. This book's title references a part of the plot that is actually never explained. There is a literal project called Project Nought, but there's no explanation of what that means. Is it "nought" because it's before the start, or the start or something, or because they're creating something from nothing, or it is just another way of saying Project Not, because it's not what it seems? I'll never know, and that is both irritating and confusing.
For me, I found the initial concept interesting - Ren is in 1998, falls and wakes up in 2122 as part of a future program where people from the past are brought to 2122 for five months, so that students can learn history from first hand sources. Sure, sounds great.
Except...the entire first half is SO boring. It flits about, trying to introduce too many characters, and I don't connect with any of them. There's no explanation for the 5 months, and the fact that these people from the past have to help fill out HOMEWORK - projects, talks and basically be a living, breathing science project - is so wrong in so many ways and a total waste of time, IMO.
There was a heavy emphasis on this Project taking place in New Zealand, but absolutely NO explanation of why that was overly emphasised. Where were the other people, who kept mentioning this, because I assume they were NOT in New Zealand. Either I missed it or it's just never mentioned.
Maybe it's a UK vs NZ thing, but I couldn't help but read all the stuff about 1998 and cringe! It was written as though 1998 was in the Dark Ages. I don't know about the authors, but the basic terms and behaviours displayed by the future kids - which the 1998 kids had no concept of - was overly emphasised as being "unusual" when it was pretty much part of life, from what I experienced in school in 1998. I mean, the concept of various genders - using they as a pronoun - and sharing bathrooms between sexes was treated by the 1998 students as cringey and completely foreign. That was never my experience - back in 1998, we just didn't care! People were who they were and I, personally, knew quite a few LGBT people in high school during the mid-to-late 1990's.
When it comes to characters, I REALLY didn't connect to any of them. For me, I didn't "like" any of them, even in the smallest way. Phoebe was flighty and pushy, getting an instant crush on Jia. Mars was pretty similar, only WAY more flamboyant and exuberant. I thought his being a super tech geek might come in useful, but it really didn't go anywhere other than his little robot pets. For the main love interest, I actually find Mars quite irritating, selfish and materialistic, so focused on his own wants and ideals that he can't see the bigger picture. Jia is rude, obnoxious and wrapped up in her own problems to the extent that she causes more trouble than she helps. Ren is just constantly all doom and gloom, the stereotypical loner loser, who has no friends but ends up everyone's favourite.
I didn't buy Phoebe and Jia's romance, or Mars and Ren's. While the story supposedly took place over months, it just didn't feel like anything but insta-love from both Mars and Phoebe, with Jia and Ren putting up VERY little resistance.
By the end, I saw ZERO character growth.
And...sorry, but Twilight references in 2122?? Seriously? I'd have thought there would have been better options by then...
In the end, I found the ending of the story to be confusing and unnecessarily complicated. When investigating Project Nought, they discover files stating that the government are "creating" from scratch (I'm being deliberately vague to avoid spoilers! Sorry!) yet later, there's a word constantly bandied about that says they're not creating, just copying. But...copying what? Memories, genetics, date? Where did they get access to all of that? How? Why? When did it start? What was the end goal? We'll probably never know, because the two main bad guys escape and are never seen from again.
The addition of the last few pages - showing Ren finally meeting Georgia - were completely unnecessary and confusing, because it threatens to undermine and complicate the plot twist they've just spent about 20 pages revealing!
For me, it was a mix of trying too hard and taking too long to get to the point. If the whole first half had been condensed, they would have had more time and energy to spend on fleshing out the ending. I should really be giving this a 2*, for all its faults, but it's 3 for a few reasons -
1) I finished it. I could have DNF'd, but I didn't.
2) The art was really well done and well presented.
3) There are far less picky people who will probably love this for the twists, unique plot and diversity.
Sadly, I just couldn't look past the execution issues.