Giveaway and Review: "Nobody"

"Nobody"
 by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Publisher: Egmont USA
Release Date: Jan 22, 2012
Source: ARC sent by publicist

My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Summary from goodreads.com:

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.
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My Review:

Unfortunately, this book just wasn't for me. The lyrical, almost poetic, language and style was quite pretty, however it also reinforced the overall sad tone, and how bad the main characters felt about being nobodies.

At first, I felt like Claire had feelings that a lot of people experience at some time or another. She felt invisible to others, no matter how hard she tried.  I felt like she still wanted to try to overcome the invisible feeling though, and made an effort. But once Nix was introduced, this invisible, nobody theme became a little scary. It went from a somewhat familiar feeling that a lot of people experience, and was taken to a very dark place indeed.

The sci-fi world of nobodies, nulls, etc, was very in depth and detailed. Fans of science fiction would probably really enjoy this world that the author built.

The romance, unfortunately, is understandable. Of course, they would be drawn to each other since literally no one else pays any attention to them. That doesn't make it nice, though. Nix is scary as a love interest, he is trying to kill Claire, after all. It becomes obsessive for both characters, as well.


Main Characters: 2/5
Supporting Characters: 3/5

Setting: 4/5

Romance: 2/5

Uniqueness: 4/5
Cover: 4/5
Writing: 4/5


Bottom Line: This sci fi romance wasn't for me, but hopefully some others will enjoy the elaborate, alternate world.

Two videos featuring Jen talking about Every Other Day, which is releasing in paperback on January 22, the same day as Nobody:
 

Giveaway includes a hardcover copy of "Nobody" as well as a paperback copy of "Every Other Day"





GIVEAWAY RULES
The publicist has generously provided a hardcover copy of "Nobody" as well as a paperback copy of "Every Other Day" to a lucky reader of my blog.
All you have to do is follow my blog publicly and fill out the Rafflecopter form below. Please follow publicly or I can't tell that you are following :)
  • US/CAN only
  • Must be a follower to enter
  • Books will be mailed out by the publisher
  • Must be 18 or over 
  • Ends Mar 12
Thanks to everyone for entering! Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway



20 comments

  1. I've been looking forward to this one. I've heard mixed feeling about it, just like any other book, but want to read it for myself! Thanks for the giveaway!

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  2. This looks like such a good book - I can't wait to read it! Thank you for the giveaway!

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  3. Oh, I like lyrical and sad, so I might pick this one up sometime!

    Wendy @ The Midnight Garden

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  4. *hugs* I heard this book was a bit of a downer too!
    I hope your next read is lots happier!

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  5. this books sounds interesting! Thanks for the great post and giveaway!

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  6. Nobody sounds like a fantastic story and I'm looking forward to reading it.

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  7. Hmm I'm on the fence about this one. I really enjoy the few sci-fi books that I read in a year so I think the plot/world could be interesting. I do get picky about romance though lol.

    Thanks for the great review, sorry this one didn't completely work for you!

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  8. I want to read this one. It sounds interesting. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

    jenalang(at)live(dot)com

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  9. I'm sorry you didn't like this one. I really enjoyed it. But I don't think this is your genre. You like a little lighter touch and a bit more romance. This one was definitely dark. We can't all like everything, right? I'm glad you were honest.

    Heather

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  10. Actually, I've come across two Australian novels, both written many years ago, about characters unseen by others. The first was Displaced Person by Lee Harding. It was set in the Melbourne seaside suburb St Kilda, not far from where I live. The hero finds that he's gradually disappearing from view and finding himself in the place where things go when you put them down and can't find them, even after you've looked in the place where you put them down. There are others in his situation. The other was Witch Bank by Catherine Jinks, which ad fun with the notion - the girl who's so meek that she's literally invisible, gets a job at a bank run by witches, who think this is her particular power, an actual gift, and make use of it.

    If you haven't read Every Other Day, you might enjoy that more. It's great fun, especially if you like Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

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  11. Nobody sounds like a book version of Nikita or Alias, two of my favorite tv shows.

    Nix's obsession could be a turn-off, but I want to give it a shot, since I usually enjoy this plot (at least on television).

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  12. Sounds interesting-- I just need something new to read real bad

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  13. I have both of these books on my tbr. I'm sorry to see that you didn't like Nobody. I'm still willing to give it a chance. Thank you for the giveaway.

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  14. I'm sorry that you didn't like Nobody! The idea of the story looks so interesting and I like sci-fi and some romance so hopefully it will be right for me! Thanks for this amazing giveaway - I would love to win!

    Suz Reads

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  15. I really want to read Nobody. Haven't checked out Every Other Day as much, but it sounds good.

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  16. I think I would like to read this when I am 'wallowing', as my mother would say. Thanks for giving your honest opinion.

    april yedinak

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  17. I've been curious about Nobody. I hate to hear when someone doesn't enjoy a book but I always like to hear why and I enjoy your reviews. Thanks for the info and the offer!

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  18. Lovely honest review. The tone of a book can bring me down and ruin the whole thing for me as well.

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  19. Looks like an interesting book - thank you!
    hrddiana556@gmail.com

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Thanks so much for your lovely comments!