(Before It's News)
Title: Nil
Series: Nil, #1
Author: Lynne Matson
Publisher: Henry Holt
Publication Date: March 4, 2014
Genres: YA, Sci-fi, Dystopian
Reviewed by: Ellen Fritz
Ellen’s rating: 5/5
SUMMARY
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.
REVIEW
Just when I thought that I've had my fill of paranormal fiction, a brilliantly original book like Nil comes my way. Charley is contemplating normal, everyday issues in a parking lot when a shimmery heat wave appears and she blacks out. The island where she wakes up turns out to be inhabited by a bunch of teenagers with a hot leader and some thoroughly scary wild life.
This gripping novel kept me reading long past my normal reading hours. Although the author takes the time to describe the island, as well as introduce and develop all the main characters, the story moves forward all the time.
Realistic and likable, Charley, the main character, copes admirably with her strange, new circumstances. Even when the worst kind of adversity strikes, she moves forward with her life. Thad, the other protagonist, is a born leader. I, however, found him a bit too good to be true. Most of the other key characters are fleshed out and believable.
The rather heavy dose of romance in this book fortunately doesn't interfere with the development and flow of the story. Readers who can appreciate a good romance, however, will find a great deal of the tender as well as the poignant to satisfy them. A touch of light humor balances out the times when more sensitive readers might want to keep the Kleenex close by.
Despite the fact that the author omits detailed explanations as to the how and why of this enigmatic island, this is still one of the most imaginative stories I have read in a while.
ABOUT the AUTHOR
I LOVE books. And I write them too.:)
I write the sort of books I love to read…stories that ask “what if” and are full of feels…and of course, islands FTW. 
I also have a *slight* iTunes addiction, am pretty boss with a Nerf gun, and hate stopping for gas. Cookies are my kryptonite, especially thin mints.
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Source:
http://bookstomorrow.blogspot.com/2014/09/guest-review-nil-by-lynne-matson.html
