Nobody by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Goodreads
393 pages, YA Paranormal Dystopian
Standalone
My rating: 4 stars

Synopsis

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.

My 2 cents

This book hit all the right marks for me!  I love dystopians, especially when it combines other elements with it.  This one had a paranormal flavor to it with a bit of sci-fi, and I really loved it!  It was a great concept with great characters!

So this society is exactly like our own, except there is a secret organization that is behind the scenes.  They call themselves "The Society."  They were founded in the 50s and are mostly a scientific entity.  They have discovered that all beings use energy in their environment, but there are some humans that are not normal.  The ones they destroy are call Nulls, and for all purposes, they are not good.   I wouldn't call them evil--they just have no empathy or compassion for other human beings.  Everything is a toy to be played with for them.  They also have the ability to make people do things, and bend them to their will.

Then there are the Nobodies.  They are even fewer, and they use a lot less energy...so they can walk through the world almost unnoticed.  The Society rescued Nix when he was younger, and have trained him to carry out their work.  He has been told he has no purpose, except as a killer.

Claire is also a Nobody, but the Society missed her.  They tell Nix she is a Null, and must be eliminated. Things don't go well, though, and suddenly Nix isn't sure The Society hasn't been lying to him this whole time.

The bulk of the story is all about Claire and Nix trying to find a place, and at the same time, take down The Society.  There aren't a lot of characters, and most of the character development is about Claire and Nix.  Like I said, the concept of this is really interesting, and things get really strange--but I was able to keep up without a problem.  

The ending was a nail biter!  This book does have a clear cut ending, but the epilogue leaves room for a sequel.  Right now, I haven't found anything about a sequel, but I'm hoping Barnes writes one!  I would scoop it right up!