Nemesis Series, Book 1

September 5, 2016
Sepora, princess of Serubel, is the last of the Forgers, who have the hereditary ability to expel spectorium, a prized element, from their skin. With silver eyes and a defiant spirit, she escapes her father’s grasp, hoping to avoid a war among the five kingdoms, but is captured by traders who sell her into the harem of neighboring King Tarik of Theoria. Although Theoria and Serubel are rivals, Sepora finds 18-year-old Tarik intelligent and good-looking. Staying incognito, she wins his favor by brokering a deal with the flesh-eating Parani and fashioning weapons to fight her father’s impending attack. But with the Quiet Plague killing Theoria’s citizens and King Tarik’s impending marriage to a Hemutian princess, Sepora leaves, only to discover an even more perilous situation. Banks’s (Joyride) worldbuilding is thorough and vivid, yet the intricate customs of the kingdoms and Sepora and Tarik’s inner thoughts, shown through alternating viewpoints, cause the story to lag. The instant infatuation between the two main characters drives the story, but can be shopworn and syrupy (“Every time he touches me I feel melted in place”) at times. Ages 12–up. Agent: Lucy Carson, Friedrich Agency.

July 1, 2016

Gr 8 Up-Princess Sepora is sick of her evil father's greed for spectorium, the highly sought after substance that only Sepora can produce. Because of his uncontrollable avarice, she has been locked away in a cell, doomed to spend her life forging spectorium for her father to trade with foreign countries. With the help of her mother, the princess fakes her death and flees to a nearby kingdom, where she is kidnapped and unwittingly becomes a member of King Tarik's harem. Sepora convinces King Tarik to make her a servant instead, but she soon begins to fall in love with the ruler, someone she knows she can never have. Meanwhile, a deathly plague threatens her new home, and though spectorium is the only thing that will save people's lives, Sepora must hide her secret ability from her father's nemesis. The plot is creative and intriguing but also slow to develop. The story begins with an info dump, and although Sepora's romance with King Tarik is a critical piece of the narrative, it feels forced and at times cheesy. Sepora's character is fairly well-developed, but the rest of the cast is comprised of one-dimensional characters. The uniqueness of the plot almost makes up for its flaws, but not quite. VERDICT Purchase only where the author's previous series are popular.-Candyce Pruitt-Goddard, Sno-Isle Libraries, Marysville, WA

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

urbangirlreview - When I read the title Nemesis, I'm expecting the book to have hatred, anger, or maybe vengeance theme to it. Some wrong that turned people against each other or created an archenemy. Something that actually requires the word nemesis. Yet, the book's only reason for the title nemesis is that a group of people split from Serubel kingdom some hundreds of years ago to create the kingdom Theoria and Serubel kingdom lost the war to bring the Theorian people back. So, basically the Serubelians are sore losers. Of course now the main character (Sepora) must be enemies with the rival kingdom. That could be a good reason for the rivalry but the main character seems to have no real emotion of hate (or really any emotion at all) against the other kingdom Theoria. Story plot: Sepora's father wants to use her ability to make a energy containing metal to make weapons against other kingdoms and take them over. Because she feels this is wrong Sepora flees Serubel. After fleeing she is captured by stereotypical thieves (two bothers - one is the brains of the operation and one is the muscle and stupid) and sold to the king. By the way, Serpora traveling the desert, getting captured, and sold (and the plague going through the kingdom) takes up 44% of the book. After being sold to the king, Sepora is appointed to be the chief adviser's servant where she sells out her kingdoms secrets without a second thought (reason why the title Nemesis doesn't make sense). The king and Sepora (of course because it was advertised on the cover) fall in love. The book's plot is pretty obvious from the blurb of Nemesis. You know how the book will go even before you start reading it. My recommendation is to read the blurb if it sounds like a book you'd like - read it. Just because it is such a transparent blurb. Fans of Anna Banks previous books will enjoy Nemesis. It's writing style and flavor is exactly like her other books. I know the author has no part in designing the book cover but the cover does not go with the book at all. It looks like it should be with an alien story - just saying. I guess it's to show that Sepora makes a silver metallic metal... *Thank you to NetGalley and Feiwel & Friends for the opportunity to read this book.

August 1, 2016
Grades 8-12 In the kingdom of Serubel, Princess Sepora has the peculiar talent of secreting precious metal from her hands, which is essential to her father's war efforts; but she prefers running away to building more weaponry. Prince Tarik is the newly crowned king of Theoria, and his immediate worries include a mysterious plague that is killing his people and the imminent threat of an attack from Serubel. When Sepora turns up as a very reluctant member of Tarik's inherited harem, sparks fly. Interactions between Sepora and Tarik are right on target in terms of tenor and pacing, and the few stolen kisses and caresses are doubly satisfying because of that. The story unfolds through alternating chapters, although Sepora's chapters are told in first person, while Tarik's are third-person omniscient, tipping the narrative toward Sepora's point of view. This combination fantasy-romance novel touches on issues of trust, allegiance, priorities, and self-sacrifice and ends in a bit of a cliff-hanger. First in a planned duet, Nemesis will leave readers wanting more.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Banks' Syrena Legacy series was a best-seller, and her fans will be eager to get their hands on her newest endeavor.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)