Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Young Adults
Format: ARC
Goodreads
When the real world is emptied of all that you love, how can you keep yourself from dependence on the virtual? Larissa Kenders lives in a world where the real and the virtual intermingle daily. After the supposed death of her soulmate, Andrew, Larissa is able to find solace by escaping to Nirvana, a virtual world where anything is possible – even visits with Andrew. Although Larissa is told that these meetings are not real, she cannot shake her suspicion that Andrew is indeed alive. When she begins an investigation of Hexagon, the very institution that she has been taught to trust, Larissa uncovers much more than she ever expected and places herself in serious danger. Her biggest challenge, however, remains determining what is real – and what is virtual.
Nirvana is the first installment in the three-part “Nirvana” series, a fast-paced, page-turning young adult trilogy that combines elements of the romance, mystery, and science fiction genres. This first novel introduces readers to a heroine who refuses to give up on the man she loves, even if it means taking on an entire government to do so. Are you ready to enter Nirvana?
I was excited to read this book, because I loved the cover and I also liked the description of the story. I liked the cover so much I didn’t even notice the book was geared toward young adults! Unfortunately, at the end of the day, this book just didn’t live up to its potential. I found it to be disjointed and it jumped from present day to past, to memories, to current happenings without any kind of transition…it was hard to keep up at times.
This book starts off with everyday normal life, then jumps to months after The Extinction. The Extinction is the end of bees, and life as it was. Nirvana is a virtual world you can go to, where life is as it used to be. I just couldn’t seem to get interested in the book and the more pages I read, the more I became bored and even more disinterested.
Maybe I’m just too old for this kind of story – lived too much life to live in the world of this book. I just felt that the story wasn’t smooth, it didn’t flow and I actually felt a little lost and confused at times in my reading. I didn’t feel that the character development was very good since I found it quite difficult to connect with the characters.
I felt that the science behind this world was not properly explained to the readers. I have read some pretty awesome books in the past that tend to leave things up to my imagination but this book seriously left us in the dark. The world isn’t described, and when we do get descriptions, they fall short. I felt like the author was actually guessing at the plot. I felt if I had some sort of explanation behind some of the things that happened, I might have understood the characters better. Instead, I felt that some of the details were either thrown at us quickly or left off entirely.
Overall, I glazed over a large portion of the center of the book only to pick it up over halfway through just to find out how it ended. On a scale from one to five stars, I give this book two stars.
I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review and unbiased opinion.
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