Book Review (Canon): Nemesis

Nemesis

Written by Brendan Reichs in 2017

The Raccoon: Every two years on her birthday, Min Wilder is murdered, only to wake up in a forest clearing several hours later, completely unscathed.  After realizing that others around her know more about her situation than they are letting on, Min uncovers a far-reaching conspiracy that may just tie a strange inoculation shot she received in elementary school to the asteroid currently headed toward Earth.

UNMASKED: Nemesis is full of unique and earth-shattering ideas, each capable of carrying its own novel: a potential human extinction event, a string of reversible murders, a government conspiracy, a simulated world, and a cryptic warning of “Phase Two.”  When stuffed together, however, these concepts all lose their hold on the reader.

As a whole, Nemesis follows a downward slope.  The first few chapters establish three distinct characters, whose actions and dialogue flesh out their personalities, and the transition of the character Noah from Min’s view of him--the quiet background member of a group of bullies--to being the story’s second narrator, was an exciting surprise.  Yet, as the story goes on, Reichs resorts to classic tropes, such as a love triangle between a teen female narrator and the two boys closest to her, and the book’s ending is disappointingly familiar to the ending of The Maze Runner.

Ultimately, Nemesis, with its beautifully laid foundation, had the potential to rise as the next stunning dystopian series.  However, the novel trips over itself by trying to be everything at once.

Strengths:

• Reichs displays a talent for showing characters’ emotions and motivations.

Weaknesses:

• I found myself still asking questions long after the characters were satisfied with the answers, and there are a couple glaring plot holes remaining at the novel’s conclusion.
• Certain characters’ actions stretch too far from their previously established personalities and fears.
• The dialogue contains several cultural references, almost all of which are unnecessary and will likely make Nemesis much more difficult to read in a decade.

Rating: 10/20 betas

Ideal Setting: Read this if you ever begin to worry about a potential pattern to global extinction events.  Nemesis may just prove to be a true story. https://www.space.com/22538-nemesis-star.html