Zero Repeat Forever
GS Prendergast
Eighth is part of an invasion of Earth – dart them, leave them where they fall. Raven is one of those to be darted but she refuses to give in. Little by little Eighth gets caught up in the human world, while Raven is beginning to realize more about the Nahx than she wants to.
I really wish I hadn’t wasted my time on this novel. I started reading it once and then put it down. I was feeling like a fantasy novel so I picked it up again right from the beginning. More fool me. The action is surprisingly slow, and the main character Raven isn’t inherently likable. I liked Eighth, but his mind was so fragmented that I could barely follow along what it meant to be a Nahx.
I appreciate that people behave strangely if they are suffering from PTSD, but Raven is just over the top. Her relationship with her friends isn’t even really a friendship. She seems to antagonise everyone around her, and honestly I wouldn’t have minded if she dropped dead in the middle of the novel – it might have added some actual danger.
That ending. I saw it coming about mid-way through the novel. In fact, if Tucker hadn’t been buried, I would have thought that he would return too! There is no happy ending to be had for humans, but even if there was one, would I have wanted it? This train wreck of a novel didn’t have any redeeming features for me.
I am sick of dystopian science fiction. I have read so many recently, and I seem to get as many hits as I do duds. Think NK3, Killer T and the Rending and the Nest for some recent examples sci-fi. Now that the duology has been published, I can recommend The Rains wholeheartedly for an apocalyptic alien showdown.
I finished this novel because I held out hope that it would improve, so I have to give it 2 stars to meet my own standards. But honestly, don’t waste your time like I did.
Simon & Schuster | 25th October 2017 | AU$17.99 | paperback
I allowed myself to reread this one to put me in the right frame of mind to write a review. Knowing (vaguely) what would happen next didn’t stop me from being on the edge of my metaphorical seat. Ah! Serene! Why don’t you see what is in front of your face? I had forgotten the wonderful nuances that Sanderson build into this novel, and discovering them again was almost as pleasant as the first time.
Despite being in the same world as Tally Youngblood’s Uglies/Pretties/Specials (and Extras), Impostors is well and truly its own novel. The world has moved on and the technology has significantly advanced. Imagine a world where even the dust is spying on you! Rafi is trained to kill, but has her own personality trapped in there.
I found this novel lacking and predictable. Of COURSE she’s going to fall for an inconvenient guy. OF COURSE she’s suddenly going to gain a backbone. Theo is a perfectly fine protagonist, but she’s just not believable. Her behaviour, particularly when she betrays someone close to her, is just repulsive. I couldn’t get behind her quick changes in personality and pathetic excuses either.
I got a couple of chapters in, but I couldn’t work out the purpose of the novel. What was I gaining from wading through the psyche of Ziggy? If I wanted to read something written in a thick literary and nuanced style, I would have picked up an 
Charlie and Harry form a symbiosis of true love that has to stand the test of time and misunderstandings. Harry’s persistence and Charlie’s brilliance make the novel gritty rather than touching, and actually make you feel like you are experiencing life with them. What more could I ask from a novel?
Bel is a likeable character, but it does feel a bit like ‘insta-love’. She falls really quickly for a boy she knows nothing about. I find it noble that she doesn’t care what Micah has done, but at the same time – wake up! Your own life should have tipped you off that nothing is what it seems.
This was an average novel with a meandering storyline that had me losing interest about half way through (and thus pausing to write this review). BB was a lovable, cuddly protagonist and it was certainly comforting to read a fat-positive novel for once. However, she IS unhealthily fat and I’m not sure I can give completely positive feedback to a novel that initially promotes it.
Oh Joni, why are you so blind? Why are you so stubborn? Why can’t you just let things go and see further than the end of your nose? You certainly don’t fly higher because your feet are firmly on the ground and your head is either fixed on them or glaring into someone’s face.