Absolute, Jaw Dropping Perfection // ARC Review: Nyxia by Scott Reintgen |A Thousand Words A Million Books || A Young Adult Book Blog

Title: Nyxia (The Nyxia Triad #1)
Author: Scott Reintgen
Publication Date: September 12th 2017
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Part of a Series?: Yes, book 1/3 of The Nyxia Triad
I Got A Copy Through: PRH India (THANK YOU!)
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Blurb Description: Emmett Atwater isn’t just leaving Detroit; he’s leaving Earth. Why the Babel Corporation recruited him is a mystery, but the number of zeroes on their contract has him boarding their lightship and hoping to return to Earth with enough money to take care of his family.
Forever.
Before long, Emmett discovers that he is one of ten recruits, all of whom have troubled pasts and are a long way from home. Now each recruit must earn the right to travel down to the planet of Eden—a planet that Babel has kept hidden—where they will mine a substance called Nyxia that has quietly become the most valuable material in the universe.
But Babel’s ship is full of secrets. And Emmett will face the ultimate choice: win the fortune at any cost, or find a way to fight that won’t forever compromise what it means to be human.

Let’s make it official: Books set in space are the ABSOLUTE BEST! They’re always futuristic, which makes the world something you know as well as don’t and the plot twists that most of them house are absolutely INSANE. They almost always have morally ambiguous characters that you love and THEY’RE THE BEST, OKAY?

I’ve had Scott Reintgen’s debut novel on my bookish radar for a while before I got the chance to read it and now that I’m done, I HAVE to say that Nyxia is ABSOLUTELY MIND BLOWING and the Reintgen is an EVIL GENIUS and I needed the next instalment in my life YESTERDAY.

MY THOUGHTS:

1. The very first thing I felt as I flipped open this book was confusion. THERE WERE 10+ CHARACTERS INTRODUCED AND DESCRIBED ALL AT ONE TIME AND IT WAS HARD TO KEEP UP. And then the MC used the phrase ‘A politically correct suicide squad’ to describe them and I knew we were going to be okay.

2. It took a while for me to get past my initial confusion and remember all the characters but as I grew more accustomed to the world Nyxia was set in, the more I loved it. And obsessed about it. And needed answers and happy endings for my darling muffin characters. (P.s: If you can’t tell, I fell in love with the book)

3. Nyxia revolves around a group of 10 misfit, broken teenagers being taken into space and to another planet (Eden) that hosts sentient life forms (Adamites) and mine a substance worth billions of dollars (Nyxia) and over the course of their yearlong travel, they have to compete against each other in daily tests for only eight out of the ten will get send down and the other two, back to Earth. It was INTENSE, complicated, filled with adrenaline and twists and I was SAD AND HORRIFIED when I reached the end because I NEED BOOK TWO NOW.

4. I fell in love with Emmett. FAST. He was the PERFECT morally ambiguous character who questioned the boundaries of good and bad as well as right and wrong. I loved his determination and grit and NEED TO BE THE BEST. He was calculating and loyal and ruthless at times and I LOVED IT.

5. Nyxia was FILLED WITH 800,000 PLOT TWISTS THAT LEFT MY MOUTH HANGING AND MY HEAD CURSING SCOTT REINTGEN FOR PUTTING MY POOR HEART THROUGH IT ALL. I was blindsided, and all my #feels were thrown on a rollercoaster and it was one of the BEST EXPERIENCES EVER.

6. I loved the competitive atmosphere this book created. Nyxia contained an arena and tests worthy of The Hunger Games but set in SPACE and with VOLUNTARY TRIBUTES which just made it better. I loved the competition and the need to win in all the secondary characters especially Kaya.

7. REALLY, THIS BOOK WAS PERFECTION AND YOU NEED IT IN YOUR LIVES.

Nyxia was EVERYTHING I thought it would be and more. A jaw dropping, PERFECT debut novel that is perfect for fans of The Hunger Game and Illuminae.

Scott Reintgen grew up in North Carolina, and took full advantage of the fact that he lived on the same street as fourteen of his cousins. It could be a little crowded, but he threw a few elbows and carved out a space for himself as the family storyteller. He enjoyed the role so much that he decided to spend most of college and graduate school investing in the world of literature. This led to a career teaching English and Creative Writing in the great state of North Carolina, where he currently lives with his wife and family. To his great delight, the demand for stories and storytellers is alive and well. As such, he can often be found at local coffee shops laboring over stories that he hopes his family, and fans, will love.