The Diabolic by S.J. Kincaid

Publication Date: November 1, 2016

Series: STANDALONE

Genera(s): Dystopian Sci-fi/Space Opera

Subjects: space colonies, genetic modification, bodyguards, impersonation, royalty

Setting: In space, spaceships and space colonies

POV/Tense: 1^st person, past tense: Nemesis dan Impyrean

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 403 pgs. (In ARC version, at least)

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: Simon & Schuster: BFYR

Summary/ product description: “Red Queen meets The Hunger Games in this epic novel about what happens when the galaxy’s most deadly weapon masquerades as a senator’s daughter and a hostage of the galactic court.

A Diabolic is ruthless. A Diabolic is powerful. A Diabolic has a single task: Kill in order to protect the person you’ve been created for.

Nemesis is a Diabolic, a humanoid teenager created to protect a galactic senator’s daughter, Sidonia. The two have grown up side by side, but are in no way sisters. Nemesis is expected to give her life for Sidonia, and she would do so gladly. She would also take as many lives as necessary to keep Sidonia safe.

When the power-mad Emperor learns Sidonia’s father is participating in a rebellion, he summons Sidonia to the Galactic court. She is to serve as a hostage. Now, there is only one way for Nemesis to protect Sidonia. She must become her. Nemesis travels to the court disguised as Sidonia—a killing machine masquerading in a world of corrupt politicians and two-faced senators’ children. It’s a nest of vipers with threats on every side, but Nemesis must keep her true abilities a secret or risk everything.

As the Empire begins to fracture and rebellion looms closer, Nemesis learns there is something more to her than just deadly force. She finds a humanity truer than what she encounters from most humans. Amidst all the danger, action, and intrigue, her humanity just might be the thing that saves her life—and the empire.”

My Review:  I’ve had the great pleasure of reading an advance copy of this, provided by Anderson’s Bookshop and Bookfair in Naperville, Illinois. They have a pre-pub event August 22 that I had wanted to attend, but have class that night. The author will be there to sign ARCs and there will be food. If you live in Chicagoland and are interested, please contact them and pick up you ARC. Seeing as this book has not yet been released and won’t be until November first, I won’t spoil anything major, but I’ll tell you about it the best I can.

The Diabolic is a sci-fi story that takes place in space. It’s part dystopian, part space opera. Nemesis is a Diabolic, which is a genetically engineered bodyguard that is bonded to one person, and seeks to protect only that person, even if it means harming the people that person care about. Nemesis belongs to Sidonia Impyrean, the daughter of a galactic Senator.

Sidonia is summoned by the Emperor to the Chrysanthemum, the space colony where the royal court is located. Sidonia’s mother decides to have Nemesis go in her steed. Nemesis is taught etiquette and under goes genetic modifications to her appearance and to make her body seem more average in size and strength so she won’t be discovered to be a Diabolic. 

When Nemesis gets to court, she discovers that playing a Senatorial heir might be harder than she thought. She might have to take extreme measure to keep her secret and to protect the Impyrean family. She soons discovers that in the royal court, there’s always some plot, scandal or assassination attempt in the works and it’s best to trust no one.

The Emperor has three of his own Diabolics, even though they were outlawed everywhere else, and knowledge Nemesis’s mere existence could cause the execution of the Impyreans for treason. She thinks his Diabolics might be on to her. On top on that, the emperor’s nephew and heir Tyrus seems to be taking notice of her, and if rumors are true, then he’s insane, but maybe there’s something cleverer about him that she thinks.

The characters of this book are pretty interesting. Nemesis is very different from other YA heroines. She was meant to be a bodyguard and not care about her own well-being. She’s like Rose from Vampire Academy, but with the selflessness of Tris from Divergent. Sidonia is like Lissa from Vampire Academy, then. Tyrus reminds me of Nikolai from the Grisha series, though I won’t tell you why, except for some of the narcissistic and ego-related humor. Some of the characters annoyed me because they talked overly formally, like they’re from Elizabethan times to something. Some were so shallow and back-stabbing.

I thought the sci-fi stuff and technology was cool, except for the genetically modified “creatures” or “humanoids.” Nemesis is not considered humor because she was engineered. She’s very strong and fast, but they didn’t give her tear ducts, so she can’t cry. She denies that she feels thing like other people. She can kill without remorse. It’s likely because she was nurtured to kill and not part of her nature like she had believed. There are Exalted, which are hairless innocents grown and cared for during a holiday week only to be sent into a star to die. There are Harmonoids, engineered only to play music. There are Servitors who are only meant to serve and have no free will.

The cool technology includes machines that can change you appearance easily with genetic alteration. You can have any hair color, eye color, skin color, facial feature or even change your sex. There are hair stilts, which can hold you hair in any style you please. There’s also artificial youth so older folks can look young again. There are medbots to heal you.

On the uncool side of things, there are drugs, like opioid rubs, narcotics and inhaled euphorics, and they’re all legal in the empire and they use the med bots to fix any problem that occur from them. There’s also the Helionic religion, in which the worship the Living Cosmos and view any pursuit of science or mathematics as heresy.

I recommend this to those who enjoyed The Jewel by Amy Ewing, Red Queen by Victoria Avyard, any book set in space, or book about a royal court. There is a kind of Capital-esque feel to the court, so I even recommend it to Hunger Games fans.

Cover Art Review: One of the most gorgeous cover’s I’ve seen! I love butterflies. This is one beautiful yet deadly butterfly. It’s very metaphorical. I love that the knives and the title are metallic. This cover is pretty symmetrical and simple, like Red Queen’s cover.

The Crown by Kiera Cass

Series: The Selection (bk. 4)

Genera(s): Dystopian sci-fi/Romance

Subjects: contests, love, royalty, politics, princes and princesses, kings and queens

Setting: Los Angeles, California (Angeles now)

POV/Tense: 1st person POV, past tense: Eadlyn Schreave

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 278 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $19.99

Publisher: HarperTeen

Summary/ product description: “When Eadlyn became the first princess of Illéa to hold her own Selection, she didn’t think she would fall in love with any of her thirty-five suitors. She spent the first few weeks of the competition counting down the days until she could send them all home. But as events at the palace force Eadlyn even further into the spotlight, she realizes that she might not be content remaining alone.

Eadlyn still isn’t sure she’ll find the fairytale ending her parents did twenty years ago. But sometimes the heart has a way of surprising you…and soon Eadlyn must make a choice that feels more impossible—and more important—than she ever imagined.

My Review:  The Crown is the 5^th and final book in the Selection series, or the 2^nd and final book of this Selection spinoff duology, depending on how you look at it. If you don’t recall, in The Heir, Maxon decides that holding the Selection would be a way to distract the people from other troubles. Getting rid of the caste system did not solve all the problem in Ilea. People are having trouble finding jobs because of post-caste discrimination, or skill level. The 35 suitors are anonymously picked and Eadlyn was making history being in the first female-ran selection. Eadlyn was highly against the Selection and tried to sabotage it from the start, sending boys home as quick as she could, but some were charming enough that she kept them for a while, dating some, doing things as a group sometimes.

Now in The Crown, Eadlyn has narrowed her Selection down to 6 Elites. The ones staying are Ean, Henri, Fox, Hale, Gunner, and Kile. Under the circumstances of her mother’s condition, she thought it was best to let everyone else go. Her mother’s heart attack is hard on her, but America is still alive and the doctors are doing what they can. Out of all the Elite boys, Kile’s the only one she truly loved, but he dreams of being an architect and she’s not sure if she want to put him in a royal position. She grew up with him, and they used to not like each other.

There’s also Henri’s translator, Erik, who Eadlyn starting to fall for, although he’s not part of the Selection. Erik’s family was from Swendway, like Henri is. Erik’s real first name is Eikko. He has dark hair and blue eye and is camera shy. Eadlyn really does love him, but she feels obligated to go though with the rules of the Selection. Also there’s Marid Illéa who want her to marry him to secure the royal blood line.

This was a really great finale. It was cute and enjoyable. I’m happy how it ended and kind of don’t want to spoil it for everyone else. I enjoyed all the romance, humor and drama in these books. If you looking for action, this is not that kind of book. It’s full of romance. It’s like a soap opera. I would not suggest reading this without having read all three of The Selection books before it.

Cover Art Review: I love this cover more than any other Selection covers. That dress is the most gorgeous cover dress yet. Those sparkles look like stars. I just love everything and wish it were metallic or glittery.

Cover Art Review: So gorgeous. I love the purple! The lavender dress is so pretty!

Calamity by Brandon Sanderson

Series: Reckoners (bk. 3)

Genera(s): Dystopian Sci-fi

Subjects: super powers, abilities, supervillains

Setting: The city of Ildithia, which used to be Atlanta, Georgia, but was turned into constantly moving salt and now is in Kansas

POV/Tense: 1st person POV, past tense: David

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 417 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $18.99

Publisher: Random House: Delacorte Press

Summary/ product description: “When Calamity lit up the sky, the Epics were born. David’s fate has been tied to their villainy ever since that historic night. Steelheart killed his father. Firefight stole his heart. And now Regalia has turned his closest ally into a dangerous enemy.

David knew Prof’s secret, and kept it even when Prof struggled to control the effects of his Epic powers. But facing Obliteration in Babilar was too much. Once the Reckoners’ leader, Prof has now embraced his Epic destiny. He’s disappeared into those murky shadows of menace Epics are infamous for the world over, and everyone knows there’s no turning back...

But everyone is wrong. Redemption is possible for Epics—Megan proved it. They’re not lost. Not completely. And David is just about crazy enough to face down the most powerful High Epic of all to get his friend back. Or die trying.”

My Review:  This is a truly EPIC finale! It’s like a rollercoaster through a zoo filled with unicorns, dragons and puppies, while you eat ice cream, and listen to you favorites music. Sadly, the ride’s over, and I don’t want to get off. (How that for a metaphor….I mean simile.) I’ll miss David’s ridiculous metaphor-similes and his Epic obsession and his adorable geekiness.

This series has been one of the most constantly entertaining series to date. Seriously, these books never bored me and always left me wanted the next one. I’m just so mind blown by this finale, I don’t know what to say. I wish we could see more of what happened later on, after the end of the book, like a novella or story at least.

The characters in this series have been so unique, set apart from each other. I never had trouble remembering their traits, abilities or quirks. The character relationships were amazing. David and Megan, who I totally ship because they’re made for each other, remind me of other romances in YA series from a male POV, in which the girl’s the tough one in the relationship, and the guy’s a bit more nerdy or sweet. Think Percy and Annabelle, Alex and Darla (Ashfall), or Gray and Bree (The Taken Trilogy). Megan is an Epic and can pull shadows of parallel worlds into ours to make an illusion of reality.

I love the Reckoners team. Prof was cool, in a Xavier from X-men sort of way, until Prof went dark in the previous book. What a super villain. Abraham is an African-French-Canadian who’s ex-military and pretty reserved, but he’s still cool. He’s get a chance to work with some awesome Epic-derived technology in the book. Cody is a southerner who obsessed with Scottish stuff, and makes up tall tales about his people, the Scotts. Mizzy, an African-American with poufy hair, is very perky and uses words like “Groovy,” that David’s never heard. Tia, an older redhead and Prof’s girlfriend (who’s missing, or dead possibly) was an expert on Epics.

Of course if you read the previous books, you know all that, or just needed a reminder. If you hadn’t read them, you you should probably stop reading this review and look for spoiler free reviews on Steelheart, ya slontze. (That’s not an insult, that was a made-up word from the book, which was set in Chicago, now Newcago).

The Reckoners are in Ildithia, which used to be Atlanta and used to be in Georgia. Well now’s it’s made of salt that grows and disintegrates over a week, moving like mold, by growth and decay. It’s currently near Kansas City, Kansas. Weird, I know. I didn’t get it at first either. It’s pretty cool though. I like the idea of a building made of a crystal. Though, having to move each week would suck.

They set up a base there, avoid Epics until the mission. Stuff doesn’t go so well. They have quite a few run-ins. The make plans. David in currently leading the group and coming up with crazy ideas and persuading the other Reckoners to go along with it. Everyone’s skeptical of David’s farfetched plans. David’s eternally optimistic, sometimes in an annoying cheeky way. I like him for that. He almost reminds me of Ray from Arrow/Legends of Tomorrow, (who get called “boy scout” a lot).

The ending of the book is crazy. I kind of suspected what Calamity was, but didn’t know who he was. A what happened to David was what I was hoping for, but I didn’t expect what exactly would happen. If you think I’m being vague, I am doing so to not spoil it. I really want to talk about it though. OHMYGOSH!!!!!! EERRRR!!!! I just…loved it too much. Seriously, why can’t there be more series like this?

Recommend this to fans of Marvel and DC comics and movies and TV shows. Books like Illusive, V is For Villain and Shatter Me.

Cover Art Review: Cool cover. Love the colors and the bullet hole. Very representative of the series.