by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Release date: January 22nd, 2013
Published by: Egmont
Genre: Young Adult (Sci-Fi, Paranormal)
Format read: ARC
SUMMARY
There are people in this world who are Nobody. No one sees them. No one notices them. They live their lives under the radar, forgotten as soon as you turn away.
That’s why they make the perfect assassins.
The Institute finds these people when they’re young and takes them away for training. But an untrained Nobody is a threat to their organization. And threats must be eliminated.
Sixteen-year-old Claire has been invisible her whole life, missed by the Institute’s monitoring. But now they’ve ID’ed her and send seventeen-year-old Nix to remove her. Yet the moment he lays eyes on her, he can’t make the hit. It’s as if Claire and Nix are the only people in the world for each other. And they are—because no one else ever notices them.
That’s why they make the perfect assassins.
The Institute finds these people when they’re young and takes them away for training. But an untrained Nobody is a threat to their organization. And threats must be eliminated.
Sixteen-year-old Claire has been invisible her whole life, missed by the Institute’s monitoring. But now they’ve ID’ed her and send seventeen-year-old Nix to remove her. Yet the moment he lays eyes on her, he can’t make the hit. It’s as if Claire and Nix are the only people in the world for each other. And they are—because no one else ever notices them.
MY REVIEW
Nobody is nothing like I thought it would be - this is definitely something that I would not have picked up. I am so very happy that I agreed to review it.
I did struggle with the first part of the book, and even though there were things that made me cringe and not understand, it kept me intrigued enough to get through the first 18 chapters, which in my opinion, is when it started to finally flow, connect and got really, really interesting.
Jennifer Lynn Barnes' spin on sci-fi has really blown me away. The realistic secret-organization and characters that she created are like no others that I have ever read before.
First, here's a brief description of what a Nobody is...
a Nobody is a person that has a DNA glitch that allows them to go unintentionally undetected. No one remembers them; they are easily forgotten and no one cares for them. If aware of their abilities, Nobodies can make themselves invisible, enough to be able to walk through things. Nobodies are rarely ever spoken to, acknowledged, touched... or loved.
Claire is your typical teen trying to get by. But no matter what she does, every one seems to forget about her. And she doesn't understand why. What did she ever do to the world? Why is she ignored? Forgotten? To the point that her parents have to leave sticky notes around the house in order to remind themselves to inquire about her. She is left alone all the time. Maybe they never wanted to have a child.
But Claire tries to keep an upbeat attitude full of hope. Her books are her solace, her escape, her friends. She daydreams of a day that something will happen to her and no one will be able to look away.
My heart broke for Claire. Her loneliness rips into you. Why would people not take the time to speak to this smart and pretty girl? Claire has her moments, but only allows herself small periods of self-pity. She's hopeful of something happening to change things for the better.
Until she meets Nix.
Nix.
Nix grew up under the secret-organizations trainers and tutors. From his first memory, he was constantly told that he was nothing and that no one would ever care for him. That he is unlovable because he is a Nobody. He was raised to be an assassin. To kill Nulls. Nulls are soulless people - they can't show emotion, they don't care nor love. Nulls are very selfish and they have the ability to manipulate everyone around them to do their bidding. Nix has to keep the Normals, regular humans, safe. The Sensors, humans with one or more special sense (heightened sense of smell, hearing, etc.) track them down and only Nix is able to get rid of Nulls.
His newest Null assignment is Claire.
But Claire sees Nix. And she knows what he's about to do. But, he's looking right at her.
Nix sees Claire. He must do what he was assigned to do. But she's looking right at him.
I do not consider this an insta-love situation at all. The shock of having eye-contact with someone - something that has never happened in their entire lives - this will bring on a huge amount of curiosity A connection of familiarity, understanding. Jennifer Lynn Barnes' writing really impressed me - the way she was able to break Nix down. Build Claire up. Make them stronger, and weaker. Claire and Nix's relationship is undeniable. The fact that they are similar and quite possibly the only one's to exist draws them together, but can also tear them a part.
What if there are other Nobody's out there?
What about Nix's other assignments? Were they all Nulls?
SO many questions! So many twists and turns! It turned into a page-turner for me and I enjoyed it very much! I highly recommend this to anyone who is looking to read something out of their comfort zone, who likes sci-fi, suspense and mysteries.
I do have to warn you, there are a few graphic descriptions to some of Nix's assignments and past that made me cringe and squirm a bit. But overall, a great read indeed!
MEMORABLE QUOTES - Nobody by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
"Oh, God. I'm jealous of farts."
"I envy the noxious, gaseous excretions of the human backside."
~ Claire, ARC page 5
"Normals could love. They could be loved."
"And yet they walked through life with their heads down, not even bothering to look at each other, not knowing how precious each interaction, each glance, each dialogue was."
~ Nix, ARC page 61
"The most important things in life were the things you couldn't see with your eyes.
The things you saw with your heart."
~ Claire, ARC page 251
"You tamed me."
~ Nix, ARC page 337
ABOUT THE AUTHOR - Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Jennifer Lynn Barnes (who mostly goes by Jen) was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She has been, in turn, a competitive cheerleader, a volleyball player, a dancer, a debutante, a primate cognition researcher, a teen model, a comic book geek, and a lemur aficionado. She's been writing for as long as she can remember, finished her first full book (which she now refers to as a "practice book" and which none of you will ever see) when she was still in high school, and then wrote Golden the summer after her freshman year in college, when she was nineteen. Jen graduated high school in 2002, and from Yale University with a degree in cognitive science (the study of the brain and thought) in May of 2006. She'll be spending the 2006-2007 school year abroad, doing autism research at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.
GIVEAWAY
Enter to win a finished hardcover copy of
Nobody AND a paperback copy of Every Other Day
BOTH by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, directly from Egmont!
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I haven't heard much but another blogger who has reader it didn't quite like it at all but your review got me curious. My only problem would be with the romance parts if it's too much or barely there. I like how the connection is basically curiosity about why they can see each other though. I'll just have to check out more reviews and see what I think from there!
ReplyDeleteI love that this wasn't at all what you thought it was, that it was outside your usual read and you loved it. That always rocks! thanks for sharing it and for the chance to win a copy.
ReplyDeleteI love books that you can't predict or out of your norm!
ReplyDelete