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Nobody by Jennifer Lynn Barnes: Review and Giveaway

Monday, March 4, 2013

There are people in this world who are Nobody. No one sees them. No one notices them. They live their lives under the radar, forgotten as soon as you turn away. 

That’s why they make the perfect assassins.

The Institute finds these people when they’re young and takes them away for training. But an untrained Nobody is a threat to their organization. And threats must be eliminated.

Sixteen-year-old Claire has been invisible her whole life, missed by the Institute’s monitoring. But now they’ve ID’ed her and send seventeen-year-old Nix to remove her. Yet the moment he lays eyes on her, he can’t make the hit. It’s as if Claire and Nix are the only people in the world for each other. And they are—because no one else ever notices them.

Goodreads Summary


How would you feel if you were a "Nobody?"  A Nobody is someone theoretically ignored by society...someone whose presence has no real impact on others in the room. Claire is a Nobody, but she doesn't know it quite yet.  She has lived her entire life being ignored by the people around her...even her parents.   When she is targeted by a strange association, she isn't sure how to react.  She is further confused by the fact that her assassin is the first person in her life to notice her.  Claire's character was nice enough, but it felt like she literally lacked substance to me.  The majority of what the reader will likely glean from her point of view in the novel is her actions, not so much her real thoughts.  She was my favorite character, however.

 Nix has an assignment and he rarely gets to know his assignments.  He probably wouldn't describe himself as a cold-blooded killer, but he has had his moments-many of them.  When he realizes that Claire just might be a Nobody like him, he begins to question the entire system he was raised under.  Why is he killing his own kind?  Who is Claire and why does the agency find her so important that she must be killed?  Nix's character was a little hard to like, at first.  He really does try to kill Claire and doesn't seem to have many moral issues with the act.  However, he slowly warms up to both Claire and the reader.  I still didn't like him, personally, but he wasn't a terrible character of love interest.  He is portrayed as someone who has had little contact with the outside world and the author crafts his character in such a way that he succeeds in proving his background.

The plot itself was very unique.  I can say that I don't think I have come across any other books written quite the same way.  I really loved the concept that there could be people in our world deemed "invisible" and literally unseen-this concept could be extrapolated to the less well-off parts of society, perhaps.  Overall, I thought this novel was worth a read and would recommend Nobody to middle grade/teen readers. 

3 Stars


This product or book may have been distributed for review, this in no way affects my opinions or reviews.

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35 comments:

  1. RIN said...:

    I have no idea what I would do if I were a Nobody! It's such an interesting concept. If you had more than one day you could do a lot with it, but with only one day? Not quite sure? Sneak into some secret (government, science lab?) place?

  1. Chelsea B. said...:

    Goodness, I have no idea. Wish for it to be over? Yes, I'm boring ;-)

  1. erin said...:

    Thanks for the great post! Wow... that would be hard not to do something nefarious like rob a bank or break into a government facility ;)

  1. mon said...:

    I don't wish to be a Nobody, but if I were then I would want to meet another nobody. Then we will be somebody to each other. haha!

  1. take a day off. nobody's aren't required to work...

  1. Unknown said...:

    I would probably go out of my mind.
    Thanks for the giveaway.

    dragonkeep62(at)gmail(dot)com

  1. This is another book that I have heard some not so lovely things about. Your review is one of the most positive, actually. But I am a fan of J.L.B, and Nobody is sitting on my shelf, so I will definitely give it a shot. Hopefully my review will favor yours, and not some of the more negative reviews!

  1. Kathy said...:

    Stay in bed all day and read!

  1. Holly said...:

    I honestly don't know if I'd like being a Nobody.

  1. Anonymous said...:

    If I were a nobody for a day, I would try and do as many good deeds as I could like trying to help someone else because then you could truly do things and remain unknown. How wonderful would that be!!

  1. Anonymous said...:

    probably many nefarious things, as no one would notice

  1. Anonymous said...:

    many nefarious things as no one would notice.

    Antane

  1. Amanda D said...:

    I would try to find another nobody. If I couldn't, then I would probably go crazy.

  1. laurie said...:

    Goodness, I have no idea. Wish for it to be over? Yes, I'm boring ;-)

  1. Unknown said...:

    Assassinate somebody... ;) no I'm totally kidding. Prank my friends or something.

  1. Unknown said...:

    If I am to become Nobody for a day, I'll just do the same things because what matters in the end is that I feel good about myself and I do things because I wanted to not because somebody asked me to or prove something for somebody.

  1. Sayomay said...:

    Get on a plane without looking where and just travel all day long! And head home so I dont get caught......

  1. Anonymous said...:

    I honestly don't even know. It's got to suck not being noticed. But then again, I guess you could do anything...

    ~Angela C.

  1. I'm glad I'm not a "nobody". I guess I'd catch up on some things, and stay away from everyone for 24 hours.

    misusedinnocence@aol.com

  1. I think I would go sit in the library and read books all day.

  1. Unknown said...:

    I'd probably like it for a minute or two and then go crazy! Thanks!

  1. Unknown said...:

    The premise for this book seems really interesting....but IDK what I would do if I was a Nobody for a day....I mean being a nobody gives you the potential to do so many things...I don't know how to make the best use of my one day...

  1. Unknown said...:

    What would you do if you were a Nobody for a day?

    I'd go to a bookstore and read all of the new books. So that I'd be caught up on my reviews, y'know? :)

  1. I guess I would just go off by myself for the day, and think about what it could be like if I weren't a Nobody.

    ayancey(at)dishmail(dot)net

  1. Unknown said...:

    I would definitely do something crazy if I could be a Nobody for a day! Maybe go into the gov't building where they research aliens!

  1. Unknown said...:

    I'd probably find it very boring so I'd stay home and just relax.

  1. NenaTH said...:

    not do a thing at all, and just relax and wait for it to be over lol

  1. Unknown said...:

    I have many choices that i would do- like sleep all day, travel,random stuff.. thanks for the giveaway!!

  1. Hmmm good question! I guess I would enjoy the quite for the day. I could get in a lot of reading, that's for sure!! But it also would be pretty boring to. Thank you so much for a chance at winning in your awesome giveaway!!

  1. I would sleep in and read and enjoy my quiet time. I'm a stay at home mom of three, as a nobody, I would enjoy some quiet for a day :)

    Jolene A

  1. Just relax and do nothing.

  1. Amber said...:

    I'd probably just spend the day feeling bad for myself... interesting concept though..

  1. Diana said...:

    Heard good things a bout the book, thanks for the review! :)

    - Diana
    chaoticreader.blogspot.com

  1. LAWonder said...:

    This may be an interesting book. I have thought about reading it several time but never felt strongly about it.
    At first I thought it would be profoundly depressing but you brought up another possibility that got my curiosity up.