About the Book:
Nexis (Tricksters, #1) by A.L. Davroe
Release Date: Dec. 1, 2015
Genre: YA Sci-Fi / YA Science Fiction
Published by: Entangled Teen
Her only escape is to lose herself in Nexis, the hugely popular virtual reality game her father created. In Nexis she meets Guster, a senior player who guides Ella through the strange and compelling new world she now inhabits. He offers Ella guidance, friendship…and something more. Something that allows her to forget about the “real” world, and makes her feel whole again.
But Nexis isn’t quite the game everyone thinks it is.
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So at first I just signed up for a promo post of this book because I didn't know for sure whether I'd have time to read it before the date came up with all the other e-galleys I had to review. I did go ahead and request it from Netgalley, so thanks to them and Entangled Teen for allowing me to read this e-galley. But as I've been starting to slow down my request on e-galleys, and choosing to not read those that I am not as hugely excited about, I was able to get to this. And just in the nick of time I finished it on Sunday, so that I could add my review to the promo post. This book was one that once I picked it up, I didn't want to put it down. I loved this story!
As you read above, the main character is Ellani, or Ella/Elle as she goes by most often. She lives in a dystopian world where the rich are able to plan their children to be the way they want them with all kinds of genetic enhancements, to make them perfect. Ella is the daughter of one of the Aristocrats who was born this way, and her mother who was mostly a Natural, unchanged. Her mother didn't like all the changes and so never let Ella get any of the modifications like the other kids she went to school with, even after her mother is dead, her father keeps the promise of no modifications. When we begin the story, Ella's father has just been given very important status with a virtual reality game he has invented called Nexis. This is supposed to be THE best game, ever. Ella tries to make up for the no modifications thing, she is embarrassed to be a natural, and so creates a visor with a hologram that makes her look like the other Aristocrats. At this big event to celebrate her father, she tries to impress the president's son, Quentin, who she's had a crush on forever. But when something happens that embarrasses her in front of all the kids her age, she leaves the party with her father, and is very angry at him. In the pod, which is a form of transportation in this world, there is an accident. When she wakes up, her father is dead, and she has lost her legs. She feels sorry for herself, and finds herself living in her father's workroom being taken care of by some woman she doesn't even know. Her nanny-android that she grew up with, Meems, tries to bring her out of her depression and convinces her that to play her father's VR game, she will be able to feel closer to him.
So Ella goes into the game and at first isn't quite sure what is going on. But then she meets a boy, he's handsome and funny, and seems to want to help her. She seems to be drawn to him, and he to her. In fact he thinks she is one of the people that the Oracle told him he would need on his quest. His name is Guster, and he is a trickster in the game. His quest is to get to the command center of the game, and has a whole group already with him to help. Now people can only be in the game for a certain amount of real time, and so in the times when Ella must be in the real world, she does a lot of studying historical books and records that her father, who loved that kind of stuff, had left in his workroom. She has to deal with a caretaker who seems to be only taking care of her for her money. And she learns something about the accident and what people believe really happened that will rock her world, and send her back into the game, and back into Guster's arms.
As you would expect, the goal of the game was something her father, and mother in a way. left for her to solve, to help bring change to their world. But to get to the end of the quest successfully she will have to trust these friends in the game that she has no idea who they might be in the real world. And some will be lost along the way as well. And when she gets to the end, things on the outside will really change. And she will have to decide if she does want to get to know Guster, the boy she's fallen in love with, outside in the real world.
There's so much more to the story. And all the twists and turns and how all the little things connected, wow, I was just drawn in and had to keep reading as much as possible. I love that Guster could be the perfect guy, and really, you can't fault the story for it, they're in a video game, who wouldn't make things exactly the way they want to be in a game, where you never have to go and actually see the person, it can be just how you want it. But Guster, wow, I hadn't really guessed who he would be until right when she got out of the world at the end. And then, it was a great twist, and I really liked it. But even that has a twist at the end. One that I am so hanging on and waiting until the next book comes out so that I can know what is really going on with that. I highly recommend this book. It will be one of my upcoming staff recs at the bookstore where I work as well! I've been friends with the author through social media for a while, and am so glad to be able to promote her book!!
About the author:
By day, Amanda lives in Connecticut with her two feline hench-creatures and makes cheese. She’s a terrible blusher, has a weak spot for cuddly animals, loves Laffy Taffy and Cadbury MiniEggs, and she’s a huge advocate of alternative healing methods. Amanda also wears purple shoes and corsets…Though not always in the same ensemble. She’s a Capricorn, a Hufflepuff, a bit gothic, and a few nuggets short of a Happy Meal.
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Twitter: @ALDavroe
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The Giveaway:
- Fire HD 7, 7" HD Display, Wi-Fi, 8 GB + Nexis Swag Pack (US/Canada)
- $50 Amazon Gift Card (INT)
- $50 Amazon Gift Card (US/Canada)
- Nexis Swag Pack (US/Canada)
- Opportunity to Name / Build the Look of a Character in the next book in the Trickster series with any of the Mods and Alts you can imagine! (INT)
Check out the rest of the tour HERE.
