Nil Unlocked by Lynne Matson

Review by Meghann

Title: Nil Unlocked
Series: Nil #2
Author: Lynne Matson
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co., an imprint of Macmillan
Genre: Young Adult Fiction - Science Fiction, Dystopian
Release Date: May 12, 2015
Source: ARC provided by the publisher, opinions are honest and my own.

On the island of Nil, the rules are set. You have exactly 365 days to escape—or you die. Rives is now the undisputed Leader of Nil City, but keeping the City united is tougher than ever.

Raiders have grown bolder, supplies are dwindling, and non-human inhabitants have taken a turn toward the deadly. New arrivals cause rifts within the City, putting the Search system at risk, and calling everything Rives knows into question. Desperate for answers, he teams up with the only other person searching for them: Skye, a new arrival with a mysterious past of her own. Soon the duo find themselves locked in a desperate race to save all the residents of Nil—and possibly destroy the island forever. But at what cost? And who will pay the price?

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Thanks to Andye for hosting me on Reading Teen as a guest blogger! You can visit me at my home, Becoming Books.

So… Round Two?

I was not expecting a sequel to Nil and I was a bit hesitant to go back onto the island again. Was this going to be a repeat of book one? I had so many questions as I opened page one.

Yassss… All the answers.

Nil is slowly “unlocked” ;) and the answers I craved in book one start to come to light. It’s like Lynne read my review and wrote this just for me. (wishful thinking… haha)

So there’s a lot of mystery and a lot of answers to go with it. A whole new set of island members which bring a great dynamic to the story and really show off some good diversity/global perspectives. There is romance but it’s not as consuming of the story as Charlie and Thad’s was.

Skye is our main female protagonist who is actively searching for Nil which is different than those who have randomly ended up there with no pretense. Rives is her male counterpart who was Thad’s second in command in book one. The dual POVs bring in a good connection with both Skye and Rives and while the character development is not earth shattering it feels genuine and on par for a sci-fi.

Teen ‘Lost’

If book one reminded you of a teen version of the TV show ‘Lost’ there’s little to dissuade that here as well. It’s not a bad thing, if anything it makes me more intrigued and curious as to whether the mysteries are a product of nature or manmade sciences. There’s so much I want to geek out about here but spoilers...

That ending though...

Whoa nelly!! All that action. All of a sudden everything has to happen very quickly and we’re moving. There were definitely moments where I had to flip back a few pages and re-read to make sure I was where I thought I was in the story. LOL. I was very satisfied with the ending since it was the ending I was looking for in book one.

Bonus: This series was originally listed as a standalone, then a duology and now a trilogy! Not sure if it’s totally necessary but there is a loose thread and I assume it is the thread that will be pulled into book three. If so… I’m there, count me in!

Cheers,

Meghann