ZEROES by Scott Westerfeld \\ Sadly, I Give This One a Zero . . .

DNF Review by Emily

ZEROES
by Scott Westerfeld
Series: Zeroes (Book 1)
Hardcover: 560 pages
Publisher: Simon Pulse; 1st edition (September 29, 2015)
Goodreads | Amazon

Don’t call them heroes.

But these six Californian teens have powers that set them apart.

Take Ethan, a.k.a. Scam. He’s got a voice inside him that’ll say whatever you want to hear, whether it’s true or not. Which is handy, except when it isn’t—like when the voice starts gabbing in the middle of a bank robbery. The only people who can help are the other Zeroes, who aren’t exactly best friends these days.

Enter Nate, a.k.a. Bellwether, the group’s “glorious leader.” After Scam’s SOS, he pulls the scattered Zeroes back together. But when the recue blows up in their faces, the Zeroes find themselves propelled into whirlwind encounters with ever more dangerous criminals. At the heart of the chaos they find Kelsie, who can take a crowd in the palm of her hand and tame it or let it loose as she pleases. 

My Rambles

DNF @ 37%

The idea of a superhero book totally grabbed me, and with a name like Scott Westerfeld co-authoring it, I had the expectation that it would be an exciting and action-packed read. That being said, I’ve never actually read one of Westerfeld (or any of the other co-authors books) before starting Zeroes. But unfortunately I could just not get into this book at all.

Each of the “Zeroes,” as they refer to themselves, tell the story from their distinct point of view. But I think what really turned me off is that I didn’t like the characters. I made it almost halfway through this massive book, and I can’t say that I felt attached to, or the need to root for, any of the characters. There wasn’t anything that was keeping me reading.

There was a lack of information regarding how the characters obtained their powers, which I think would have made for a cooler story that what I got through while reading Zeroes.

The chapters are really short, which is how I think I made it through as much of the book as I did. But Zeroes by no means was what I was expecting or hoping for. To say I am disappointed is an understatement.  I was really looking forward to the concept of the book backed by the credibility of having a huge author behind it.

I picked up and put down Zeroes more times than I can count, or have done for any other book. Unfortunately in the end, I had to put it down due to my lack of interest.