Nova

May 11, 2015
This YA-flavored debut lacks the complexity to do its themes justice. Sixteen-year-old Lia Johansen, if that’s who she really is, contains an implanted time bomb set to detonate on a populated space station within hours of her arrival there. When the mechanism malfunctions, she is left to contend with questions about her identity and her mission. With no instructions on how to proceed in the event of failure, she wanders aimlessly as she struggles to reconstruct her forgotten past—until she meets a boy who triggers deep memories within her, as well as an onrushing feeling of young love. But is she remembering her own actual past, or that of the Lia of whom she suspects she might be a clone? Or are both she and her memories nothing more than laboratory-created constructs? Johansen’s existential angst over her humanity is mildly compelling, and the novel’s resolution is neat and satisfying, but the book resembles nothing so much as a toned-down version of Total Recall. Agent: Lindsay Ribar, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates.

May 15, 2015

Lia Johansen comes to awareness as her shuttle docks at New Sol station, knowing two things: her name and that she is a human bomb set to detonate in 36 hours. She and the others on her shuttle are recently released POWs, and Lia's plan is to lay low among her fellow refugees until she goes nova. But her countdown clock seems to have developed a glitch--running down and stopping inexplicably, leaving her unsure of how much time she has left. Then she runs into Michael, a boy she remembers from her childhood. VERDICT The gimmicky but effective narrative device of a running clock keeps the tension in this debut taut as a wire. Lia is supposed to be 16, as is her love interest Michael, but owing to the complicated nature of Lia's identity and burdens, she often seems far older. A solid choice for adult or teen sf collections.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2016

Lia Johansen is 16 years old and alone and has recently been rescued with other refugees from the invasion that left her planet in tatters. Her parents are dead, and she has no memories of anything except her name and her mission. Lia is a human bomb, and she is programmed to blow up the space station in 36 hours. The protagonist assumes that she is a clone or, perhaps, a robot because she has no memories of a past at all, until she meets Michael, a boy who seems to know her. The ticking clock looms large until, suddenly, it stops: she is a dud. Unable to jump-start the device, Lia begins to feel that maybe she has a second chance and, possibly, a future. Her friendship with Michael deepens, and she makes other friends-so when the clock randomly begins to tick off the minutes and seconds, Lia is uncertain that she wants to continue to the end of her mission. If she goes to Nova, she will die alongside all her new companions. Teens will understand Lia's reluctance to give up her newly discovered friends and may make a connection between suicide bombers of today and the mission with which she has been tasked. This work will hold readers' attentions until the surprising end. VERDICT Hand this to young adults who enjoy their dystopia laced with a bit of love and self-discovery.-Connie Williams, Petaluma High School, CA

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from July 1, 2015
In the first installment of a projected new series, a 16-year-old girl, Lia Johansen, arrives at New Sol Space Station after living for several years in a colony that had been turned into a prison camp. Two warring human factions have signed a cease-fire, and it looks like this one, the latest in a string, might actually last. But then something happens to change Lia's outlook in a rather drastic way: she discovers that she is not Lia at all, but rather a clone, a living bomb, designed to explode and wipe out the space station and everyone on it. A malfunction (or is it?) in her timing system prevents her from carrying out her purpose, and, instead, she begins to draw on Lia's implanted memories and her own unfamiliar emotions to learn to become human. There is much to praise about this novel, including its clever rethinking of an SF standby, the interstellar war, and its carefully drawn characters (Lia could easily have come off as a, um, clone of The Hunger Games' Katniss Everdeen). There are some very nice plot surprises, too, best left unrevealed here, that should give readers some thrills and chills. A super start to what looks like a fine series; readers will be eager for the next installment.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)