NilAuthor: Lynne Matson
Published by: Henry Holt and Co.
Publication Date: March 4, 2014
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
On the mysterious island of Nil, the rules are set. You have 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 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 she has to find a way to beat the clock, and quickly.
When I first saw Nil, I was on the fence about it. Then when I saw it described on the author’s Goodreads page as a “YA thriller with a SF twist”, I got a lot more excited. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite hold up to what I thought I was getting.
Nil starts out with Charley, a seventeen year old girl vanishing from the Target parking lot and waking up on a mysterious island with other teens. All of the teens arrive the same way but at various times, and have 365 days to escape the island of Nil. Sounds exciting and mysterious, right? Yeah, not so much.
I am someone who doesn’t need everything spelled out for me, I’m perfectly fine with leaving things open and allowing the reader to infer outcomes. However, there was just too much left open. When the questions vastly outweigh the answers, then I have a problem. I mean, why only teens, why 365 days, why only warm-blooded animals, what was the meaning of the drawings … on and on. It got to the point where I had to wonder what the point of it all was besides setting up a situation for Charley and Thad to meet. Listen, I get what Charley and Thad’s possible ultimate purpose there was, but that’s just not enough for me.
The first half of the book was extremely boring and I contemplated not finishing it numerous times. I kept pushing through, though, because I thought we were going to get a mind blowing sci-fi twist and find out something big about the island. Nope, never got it. There were theories thrown around by people on the island, but that was the extent of it. Then there was a situation with a certain shady character that I was getting excited about, but that turned out to be a lame bomb too. So Nil is basically a romance set on a dangerous island.
And to top it off, I didn’t even care for the characters or relationship. Charley and Thad – I could take ‘em or leave ‘em. That played a big role in my dissatisfaction of the book, too. I know that if I had loved the characters, I would’ve been a little more lenient with everything else.
Well, I hadn’t planned on this turning so negative, but the more I thought about everything, the more aggravated I felt. So, yeah, I’m not exactly a fan of Nil and its “all tease and big set-up with no follow through” ways. I guess we just weren’t compatible. The title certainly fits, though.
More Reviews:
My Guilty Obsession – 4.5/5 | Supernatural Snark 4/5
Aw, dang. I love the cover and the premise for this one. So sad that it isn’t all that great on the inside. I’m not into slow/boring writing so I hope I won’t DNF this one or get tired of the characters. 🙁 Great review, Christy!
I hope you enjoy it more than I did, Aimee.
Aww dang! It’s on my wishlist, so I’ve been waiting on reviews to come so I can see if it will be worth reading. I hope that I don’t throw it in my DNF pile either. But, if there are more reviews that are similar to yours, I won’t be getting it anyways. No need to waste money. Great review!
I haven’t seen many reviews for it, but I have seen a couple of positive ones. So it just depends on the person.
I was really excited about Nil and it really makes me sad to see so many negative reviews on Nil. I was hoping it would be great, but now, I don’t even know if I should read it or now.
I honestly haven’t seen many reviews for it, so I don’t know whether I’m in the majority or minority with my feelings. I hope you enjoy it if you read it.
Bummer! It’s a shame when you find no connection at all, and you right, if you at least care and like the characters you can let a few things slide. 🙁 God bless you for finishing it, you efforts don’t go unappreciated. I had no expectations at all, in fact I come here to find new books to fill my wish list on audible 😉 but I don’t think Nil is going to make it.
Yeah, unfortunately it had too many strikes against it. I do deserve a lot of credit for finishing it – LOL!
Oh yikes. I can understand the sentiment, Christy. Sci-Fi is a genre that authors sometimes need to hold their readers’ hands. It’s like fantasy: a lot of the story’s integrity relies on world building, and that include all the whys and hows.
Sorry this was a disappointment.
It was frustrating for sure. My left sided brain wasn’t happy – lol.
Awwww sorry this one didn’t work for you Christy! Normally all the unanswered questions in this book would have driven me crazy, but in this particular context, it just worked for me. I kind of liked not knowing, but I know that will definitely not be the case for everyone!
There were just too many strikes against it for me. 🙁 I just added a link to your review at the end of the post, though, so people can get another perspective.
Sorry you didn’t like this one more but I can see how you would be disappointed if you thought it would be a sci fi or even more of a dystopian, more than anything it is a love story and when you don’t care about those characters, there is nothing left to really enjoy.
I wish I wouldn’t have seen it described like that on the author’s page, because I wouldn’t have even got it if I hadn’t. Oh well. I added links to your and Jenny’s reviews so people could get another perspective.
Thanks for doing that!!
So, basically it should be retitled Lost. Colour me disappointed, I was really looking forward to it. It depends on book-to-book basis with world-building and me, but yeah, when questions outweigh the answers, nope. But, see this is what I mean with book-to-book, if I love the characters, I can kind of not let it affect me too much, but when you don’t care, you’ve got to have something interesting going on to keep you reading. Which, it sounds like all is pretty much not enough. 🙁 Such a shame though, it sounded so good. Not fair.
It’s funny because I never watched Lost, but several times while reading Nil wondered if it was like it. Exactly, there were just too many strikes against it for me, no saving grace. Oh well, on to the next book! 😀
“The title certainly fits, though.” <— bahahaha! Sorry you didn't enjoy this one, but thank you for helping me keep my TBR under control. Pass for sure.
After I finished the book, I seriously wondered if that was why the title was Nil. Lame. 🙂
Well that’s unfortunate. Hate when that happens. It really did sound like a great set up but yeah too many things just left unexplained coupled with characters you really just don’t feel much of anything for will do a book in quick. Thanks for the heads up!
Yeah, just too many strikes against it.
Too bad! This one sounded really good! But I’m someone who likes plot with romance in the background, So this doesn’t sound right for me.
Yeah, this is pretty much opposite of that.
I’ve seen reviews all over the place for this one, and now I’m curious as to where I would fall. Ultimately it sounds like too many questions and not enough substantive answers, and I’ve had my fill of that sort of story on an island after Lost. 🙂 This probably isn’t for me. Sorry it didn’t work for you, but thank you for your honest review!
That sucks! It sounds like a premise with a lot of possibility (I’m already contemplating ways in which that can go, how those questions can be answered). Bummer that the author took the easy way out (aka the lazy way out).
Oh darn! I was hoping for more. Still, I think the lack of payoff would bother me as well. Hm.. not sure if this is for me, but I do think that now that I know what kind of book it really is, perhaps I won’t be as disappointed. Thanks for the review!
Too bad when a book doesn’t meet your expectations! Sounds like you were disappointed by this one because there was just too much that was left open. That is so frustrating when we’re left with more questions than answers. Lovely review Christy!
hmm Nil as in Nada…lol Sorry this one fell flat I give you credit for sticking with it till the end.
Oh gosh, it’s too bad that a story that seemed to have so much potential failed to deliver for you. Thanks for the helpful review, Christy!
ha interesting sorry you did not like this one. Reminds me a bit of Lost I think but if you are not even interested in the characters, that probably would kill the rest of the book for you. It happens. Wonderful honest review.
Got to admit, the premise sounds awesome. Sort of like a YA twist on Lost in a way. Too bad it just didn’t deliver and the fact that there were more questions than answers just won’t cut it for me. I’m a romance reader but if a book promises you action, adventure and intrigue and then it turns out be just another romance book with a twist I just feel cheated!
I was initially really excited for this one but I kind of forgot all about it and realized it sounds like a book I’ve ready read (The Forsaken by Lissa M. Stasse, but it has answers). Kudos to you for sticking it out
Nil sounds like a very disappointing read. I hate when I keep reading, and hoping that things will get better, and they never do. If I can’t connect with the characters, I lose interest in the story. Great Review Christy! Very thorough!
I heard the romance in this one was less than spectacular (with all gazing into each others eyes thinking they’re perfect for each other) and that the first part of the book was indeed boring. It’s such a shame because the premise for this one is intriguing and it could have been SUUUUUUUUUPER epic had it delivered :/ It reminded me of Lost kinda (which I enjoyed watching, for the first few episodes haha). I’m super bummed about this… why can’t YA books now have better quality?? Huhu (Of course not to say there aren’t… there are many lovely YA books out there but the vast majority seem to be deteriorating in one way or another…)
A lot of people are mentioning Lost when with comparison to this. I never watched Lost, but I did wonder if it was like the show while reading it.