Next Page Please!: Lynne Matson

6/12/2015

Let's Talk!: Nil Unlocked by Lynne Matson

Nil Unlocked

Author: Lynne Matson

Pages: 432

Published by: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)

Published on: May 12th 2015
Review for Nil

On the island of Nil, the rules are set. You have exactly 365 days to escape—or you die. Rives is now the undisputed Leader of Nil City, but keeping the City united is tougher than ever. Raiders have grown bolder, supplies are dwindling, and non-human inhabitants have taken a turn toward the deadly. New arrivals cause rifts within the City, putting the Search system at risk, and calling everything Rives knows into question. Desperate for answers, he teams up with the only other person searching for them: Skye, a new arrival with a mysterious past of her own. Soon the duo find themselves locked in a desperate race to save all the residents of Nil—and possibly destroy the island forever. But at what cost? And who will pay the price?

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Ahhh ever since I have finished Nil I have been dying to read Nil Unlocked! Nil had action, twists, turns, and we were just getting to know Nil. Ohhh but Nil Unlocked really did unlock Nil. I learned so much about Nil and this book was great. I have to say I enjoyed Nil a lot better because that one had more action and twists and turns but Nil Unlocked was a great book in it's own way though. Nil Unlocked brought information, mystery, and just so many questions to the island. I mentioned in my Nil review how the island itself was a character and the island become more of a character in Nil Unlocked. Lynne definitely did a great job with this sequel.

The characters in this book are very interesting. We have Rives, who we saw in Nil, and Skye. Skye is kind of like a Nil expert, except she hasn't had the first hand experience. I loved Skye, she was so prepared and ready to take action if necessary. In this book we also get to know a lot more about Rives. More about his past and personality. I really enjoyed reading from both Rives and Skye's point of view because it gave me a taste of two different personalities. Rives: the leader and Nil explorer and Skye: the person who knew all the Nil facts. It was also so cool to see Skye recognize things from her uncle's journals to things on Nil. Other characters, like Jason, Jillian, and Sy, were so great to read about again and it just brought back so much nostalgia! ;) The new characters were also a great addition.

I loved this plot. I loved how the more I read, the more I was learning about Nil. I love how there is more to Nil that meets the eye and learning that information kept me reading. I just loved everything about this plot; the way it was set up to discover facts about Nil was so great to read about! There was a lot less action than Nil but it was all good because of how much we were learning about Nil and the history behind it. Then the ending, oh the ending was just glorious! So much action and suspense then everyone was happy and it just set up a great base for book three, which I am dying to read!

I gave this book 5 stars because I just loved everything about it.

5/14/2015

Event Recap: Fierce Reads Tour Spring Fling

5/10/2015

Let's Talk!: Nil by Lynne Matson

Nil

Author: Lynne Matson

Pages: 384

Published by: Henry Holt

Published on: March 4th 2014

On the mysterious island of Nil, the rules are set. You have one year. Exactly 365 days--to escape, or you die. Seventeen-year-old Charley doesn’t know the rules. She doesn’t even know where she is. The last thing she remembers is blacking out, and when she wakes up, she’s lying naked in an empty rock field. Lost and alone, Charley finds no sign of other people until she meets Thad, the gorgeous leader of a clan of teenage refugees. Soon Charley learns that leaving the island is harder than she thought . . . and so is falling in love. With Thad’s time running out, Charley realizes that to save their future, Charley must first save him. And on an island rife with dangers, their greatest threat is time.

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Let's start with one thing: This book was awesome. I know some people have had mixed feelings about Nil but I really loved this book. It was fast paced, suspenseful, and just awesome. I really enjoyed reading about the main characters, Charley, and Thad. Nil also had a really strong plot which was just great. If you like books about surviving and mystery go for Nil! You could probably tell from the synopsis but there is romance here too!

The characters in this book were great and there were so many of them too! I love how we get a variety of people on Nil. Teenagers from Asia, Europe, America, Canada, it's great! Charley, out main gal, is from Georgia (I think) and she get's transported to Nil at a Target parking lot. She then wakes up naked on Nil and is able to survive for 12 days. 12 days may not seem like a lot but people on Nil don't live on their own past 3-4 days. So from this you can tell Charley is able to survive and a very independent person. She was completely capable of defending herself and being on her own but she is also a very caring and kind person. And don't forget, she is sarcastic too! (My type of person!)

Then we have Thad, main character number 2. When we first start reading about Thad, he comes off to be a very leader-like character. As the book progresses, he definitely has a goofy side to him and I love that. Who wants to be stuck on an island that gives you a year to get off? Not anyone and I admire him for being able to still keep his humor him even when playing the leader. However, he did something idiot somewhere in the book and it is the most frustrating thing I have ever seen someone do. *facepalms*

The plot of this book is something I loved more than the characters. There are many aspects to the Nil plot: The island itself, getting off it, the romance, and the mystery behind Nil. This list looks kind of like there is too much to swallow at one time, so many things going on! It's okay though, that's what made this book so addicting. There were things always going on and it never got boring. A plethora of the mystery behind Nil has still yet to be resolved while other aspects of the plot is still happening! Like getting off Nil; about a sixth of this book is spent looking a gate, the way in and out of Nil. It is actually pretty interesting because there is the constant question on whether the person with priority (A person that has been on Nil for almost a year and needs to get their butt off the island, quick.) Weaved into these pieces of mystery and action Lynne still has time to fit some romance into the book, which is great! A book with too many things going on may bring down the rating dramatically but that was not the case for Nil.

The island of Nil added a lot of greatness to the plot as well; it kind of is it's own character. Nil has a mind of it's own and it's not a nice one. There were so many parts where Nil just messed with the group with a death or throwing in a hostile creature. It was also cool to see how the teenagers survived on Nil as well! They have created their own city and found a way to survive. I think that is especially tough because not everyone in this earth is a good person. We did encounter some negative people in this book and it was really interesting to read about the city/camp getting hits and blows.

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Also, this book is in duo perspective! I love duo perspective books because it just makes the book more enjoyable to read! Of course, duo perspective can go horribly wrong or beautifully well. Nil's duo perspective really made me want to continue reading on with the book. Plus, I loved reading from both Charley and Thad.

One thing I do wish is that this book was a bit more realistic. "But Kaitlin, Nil is about an island that doesn't exist! How do you make that realistic?" There were actually a lot of things that could have done to help this book become more realistic. Someone getting chicken pox, bad case of acne, allergies to foods, periods. I do like how the author included glasses and contacts because that is an extremely relatable aspect.

I gave this book 4.5 stars because I love the characters and plot but it could have been a tad bit more realistic.