The story is interesting and well developed; the writer's propensity to long internal monologues for the main character (Emmett) gets a bit tiresome though. Could have used one more editor's pass of the pen. (My 12 yr old loves it though) ( )

OHMYGOODNESS this book was 10/10 and I am so in love and I need the sequel now and you need to read it now.
 
It's kind of like Divergent meets Ender's Game, and if anyone loved the Remnants series as much as I did, I have a feeling the sequels could have the same amount of philosophy.
 
And I could not put it down.
 
So nyxia is a substance found on another planet that can be manipulated in many ways, and that gives this book a fantastical element. But a realistically fantastical element. Like sci-fi with a bit of magical realism thrown in. It makes for a really unique plot that, though it incorporated elements of other books I've loved, was different to anything I've read before in many ways.
 
But the characters are really what sell this book. I am in love with each and every character because I feel like I got to know them all and they are all so very human and flawed and perfect and real. And there was such a variety, too! I do wish that some had been fleshed out more, but I felt like there was respect given to each of the different cultures that were represented as well. Even the medics in this book have their own stories and purposes.
 
I was especially enamoured with Morning and with Kaya. Oh, and Bilal--finally, an accurate representation of Middle Eastern culture casually in a book. The least interesting character was Emmett, our main character, but I love him anyway. His self-doubt and self-determination and adoration of his family made him a really easy narrator to follow beside.
 
The book has a futuristic element to it that gives Earth more intrigue too, and I loved elements such as music that were incorporated into it. I loved the commentary on healthcare and on money and on morals.
 
This is an excellent book. If you've ever enjoyed sci-fi or YA, I 100% recommend it. If you haven't, I still recommend it. Though maybe wait until the sequels are out so that you don't have to deal with a cliffhanger! :) ( )

I enjoyed Nyxia's breakneck pace, distinct narrative voice, diverse cast of characters, and high-stakes premise, but I don't think I'll be reading the sequels. Partly because there's very little emotional buy-in from the protagonist, whose most touching scenes are the rare moments he speaks with his family back on Earth, but mostly because the plot twists seem centered around forging poor Emmett into a hero in the most painful ways possible.

This is particularly infuriating in the case of Kaya, whose every glimmer of potential as a leader, a whip-smart partner, and a morally centered crusader is crushed under the grinding wheels of Emmett's character arc, which requires her death only so she can be more or less replaced by a sexier and more badass version of the same character less than 50 pages later. This replacement, of course, has Teh Sex with our intrepid hero, whereas Kaya was merely a sister figure.

Heaven forbid this dude learn any other way. Nope. He's gotta be surrounded by death and loss and the ceaseless temptation to turn to the Dark Side in order to reach his full potential. And since I appear to be significantly more disturbed by his losses than he is, I don't particularly care to stick around for the completion of that journey. Good luck, Emmett...maybe I'll read your plot summary on Wikipedia some day. ( )

What an amazing YA sci-fi adventure. Loved this. Emmett is strong, humble, and such a great hero character.

The plot itself reminds me somewhat of Survivor. There's competitions in both individual form and team battles. Alliances form and backstabbing is the name of the game. You can feel the way this is setting up for a longer trilogy.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the author.

Please excuse typos. Entered on screen reader. ( )

A YA novel, the first in a trilogy, about a group of teenagers who are recruited to do a job on an alien planet mining for a truly precious substance. But first they have to compete with each other for the available positions.

I'm afraid this one really didn't work for me. I like to think I have a healthy suspension-of-disbelief ability, but the repeated body blows to it here were just entirely too much. I was willing to grant the extremely contrived reason why teenagers had to be used for this job. But then there was the alien substance that's not just indistinguishable from magic but seemingly actually magic, able to do any ridiculous (but narratively convenient) thing you might possibly ask of it. And the incredibe giant, apparently secret spaceship. And the fact that this competition seems like a really dumb way to run a recruitment drive/training course. And the offensively nonsensical rules change that happens partway through. And the stilted "hey, let's all share our tragic backstories!" bit. And... Well, you get the idea.

Oh, and there's also the fact that, while those who win the competition are promised a cool job and a giant fortune, the losers are promised... A slightly smaller very large amount of money, which is still enough to make a life-changing difference to their families, who will have already received badly needed medical services in the meantime. Which makes the lengths they're willing and expected to go to to win feel massively disproportionate and the stakes feel kind of low, at least for most of the story.

It is, at least, a pretty quick read. And it actually is trying to do some reasonably interesting things with the main character, who is fairly believable as an adolescent struggling between his more violently competitive impulses and his desire to be a good person. And the ending has a bit of an effect, although it would have had more of one if made any sense, either.

But, in any case, this isn't going to be a series I'm continuing on with. ( )