By Cynthia Ayala

Ever since Min was eight she has been hunted on her birthdays only to awaken in an empty filed far from home. But the last time was different. Thought to be crazy, Min challenges those around her. Then Noah opens up to her. Part of the popular crowd, Noah and Min don’t seem to have much in common, except for the fact that they share a birthday…and a death. Together, once their home comes under attack they try to put together the pieces of what’s been going on and what Project Nemesis means for them and their futures.

Published March 21, 2017, by G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, Nemesis by Brendan Reichs is a young adult thriller that combines elements from Orphan Black and Lord of the Flies to make a riveting read full of tension and daring for the audiences of any age.

Nemesis grips the reader from the very beginning because it captures the tension right from the beginning, introducing the reader into Min and the situation surrounding her life. It’s scary but exhilarating all at the same time and Min, even in the face of death, she doesn’t lose her resolve or her strength. She remains that way throughout the story, keeping her head clear, her will strong. She’s such a passionate and thoughtful character, but that doesn’t mean she’s not without her flaws. Her headstrong attitude, while it makes her great, also gets in the way of her progression as a character. She continues to remain the same, little changing her in the way of evolving her character. As far as static characters go, at least she’s a well written one. Maybe static is a harsh word but for most of the book, she remains the same person until the end. Sometimes that’s the trap of creating such strong characters from the beginning, that there is little room for them to evolve.

However, she does serve as the perfect foil to Noah who does go through some powerful transformations. He’s starts out as such a docile and meek character, but as the story progresses and as Min begins to influence him. Noah is the character that evolves and changes, but not for the better. His sense of self becomes so warped, based on what others perceive of him. Looking at him through his internal narrative, it’s easy to understand where the changes are coming from and how they are working to further the plot along. Together the characters motivate one another.

As the central characters of the story, they unravel the mystery surrounding the characters and their tormented pasts. The tension surrounding the characters is amazing but the way the story progressed was intriguing. However, there was something about the ending that seemed disjointed from the overall plot. The ending is reminiscent of Lord of the Flies, but the move to get to that point, with everything else going on just didn’t seem to match up. It almost felt like there were two different stories going on fighting to be told together, making the ending seem a little like a letdown. By the ending, it fell into the common YA dystopia tropes that are popular as of late. It took away some of the imagination and it just didn’t fit with the rest of the novel. At the end of the day, it’s still a decent enough novel to past the time away with. (  | B)

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