Review & Giveaway: Nobody by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
8:00 AM
Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Release Date: January 22, 2013 (hardcover)
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Pages: 400
Source: ARC provided by publisher
Overall: 4 Stars
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 can really see them.
My Thoughts:
Jennifer Lynn Barnes's Nobody masquerades as an action-thriller on the surface, but I was surprised to learn that it's actually more on the paranormal side. I don't mean to point that out in a negative way, but rather, it just meant that I had to alter my expectations after I began reading the novel. There is definitely more to this book than meets the eye, that's for sure!
It took awhile for me to adjust to Jennifer Lynn Barnes's writing style and really understand the events unraveling in the storyline, but once more explanations were given, everything became so much clearer and the pacing really picked up. I know I said earlier that the book seemed to be paranormal, but I still don't think that's really an accurate enough description. In part, Jennifer Lynn Barnes uses metaphysical notions to explain the world of Normals, Sensors, Nulls and Nobodies.
The Society of Sensors is a shadowy organization with a hidden agenda and unlimited resources at their disposal. Nix has never had a reason to doubt his orders from the Society before, but everything he's ever believed in is shaken to the core when he's sent to kill Claire and realizes just how little he knows about the Society's objectives. Nix's targets have always supposedly been dangerous and deserved their fates, but Claire is nothing like the cruel, selfish and manipulative Nulls he has been trained to assassinate. In fact, she is just like him, a Nobody. Nix and Claire will soon discover that two Nobodies are much more powerful than one, and if they ever want to truly be free from the Society's reach, they have to fight back.
I really admired both Nix and Claire for being so resilient! In a world where literally no one cares about them, they could have easily given up and resigned themselves to their fate, but they never stopped trying to find their own happiness together. Even though Normals, regular humans, don't even know Nix exists, he has grown up trying to protect them by taking out Nulls for the Society. Claire is an incredibly lonely teenage girl who is always forgotten; her own parents barely remember they even have a daughter. Through the dual narration, you see just how invisible and worthless they both feel, but once their lives collide, they gain strength and confidence in themselves after having a taste of the warm affection and love which has always eluded them.
The more I read Nobody, the more I was blown away by the concept of the novel. I couldn't rest until I knew if Nix and Claire would pull through and succeed! The premise for Jennifer Lynn Barnes's Nobody is definitely one of the most original and unique that I've come across in a very long time. And you know what's nice for a change? It's a standalone novel! If you need a break from reading a series, I'd recommend checking out Jennifer Lynn Barnes's Nobody!
Thanks so much to EgmontUSA and Media Masters Publicity for providing this review copy!
You can purchase a copy of Nobody at: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Chapters/Indigo, etc.
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Giveaway! Thanks to EgmontUSA and Media Masters Publicity, I'll be giving away a hardcover copy of Nobody AND a paperback copy of Every Other Day to one lucky reader!
- please fill out the Rafflecopter form to enter
- must have a US / Canada mailing address
- giveaway will end at 12:00 am on February 26, 2013
- winner will be contacted shortly afterwords
- do not leave your email address in the comments
8 comments
I love the cover of this book, it's so creepy and different! I'm really excited to read this because it sounds so different from what I've been reading lately, the concept is just so intriguing!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great giveaway and awesome review!
I take genuine 'blog' reviews quite seriously - I find them more authentic. Therefore, if you say the book is amazing, I'm destined to agree! The plot sounds fantastic and the cover looks enticing. I've had little experience with 'paranormal' books, so this might be a good start!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely!! I love the concept, it's so unique!! And the author is awesome:))
ReplyDeleteThis sounds a perfect book for me! I love thrillers and paranormal. Great review!
ReplyDeleteIt has a creepy, kind of subterranean feel about it. I think it will be lots of fun. Thanks for the giveaway.
ReplyDeleteI love paranomal, thriller, scary books!
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of a secret society and thrillers are always such fun books to read when you need a break from more emotionally draining books (like Unravel Me - which I just finished!)
ReplyDeleteIt's unlike anything I've ever read! I love the concept! :D
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