Review: NIL by Lynne Matson

Title: NIL
Author: Lynne Matson
Series: Stand Alone
Published By: Henry Holt (March 4, 2014)
Source: ARC Copy Provided by the Publisher (in exchange for an honest review)
Genre: YA Fantasy
My Rating: 4.5 Star!

Book Description:
On the mysterious island of Nil, the rules are set. You have one year. Exactly 365 days--to escape, or you die.

Seventeen-year-old Charley doesn’t know the rules. She doesn’t even know where she is. The last thing she remembers is blacking out, and when she wakes up, she’s lying naked in an empty rock field.

Lost and alone, Charley finds no sign of other people until she meets Thad, the gorgeous leader of a clan of teenage refugees. Soon Charley learns that leaving the island is harder than she thought . . . and so is falling in love. With Thad’s time running out, Charley realizes that to save their future, Charley must first save him. And on an island rife with dangers, their greatest threat is time.

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I love a good dystopian, in fact they have quickly become one of my new favorite genres. Not only do I love a good dystopian but I also love a good romance even more, combine the two and I have one read I am really looking forward too and that is exactly what I got in NIL. 

If you are going into this one expecting blood and guts and gore, you are going to be sorely disappointed. This isn't the Hunger Games, it is a book all it's own and what a book it is.

I loved every minute of how twisted life on NIL could be. How there was always bad, but sometimes as in the case of Thad and Charley, there was  good (and beauty) that came with the bad.

More than anything, this is a story about survival. About learning lessons that the people of NIL never would have been able to learn otherwise. And most of all, this is a love story. About overcoming the odds and against all better judgment and harshness, still having an open heart.

I don't want to ruin anything or spoil anything by saying too much but I will say that this was one heck of a story that had me completely engrossed in the pages. The plot moves quickly as the count down of days begins and relationships are formed. I loved the closeness of the City and how they worked together to help one another as well as protect one another from the reality and brutality of their situation. Danger literally lurked around every corner and only working as one could they survive. 

While NIL herself was a mystery, her inner workings and the captives' theories of how it all began, how NIL came about, weren't and I loved that. In one shape or another, all of my questions were laid out nicely and answered without being dumped on the reader or overwhelming with too much too soon. 

This truly is a stand out novel and one you do not want to miss out on. 

*All thoughts and opinion are my own and were not influenced by the author or publisher. I was not compensated for this review.*