Nil on Fire (Nil #3) – Lynne Matson

Title: Nil on Fire (Nil #3) by Lynne Matson
Publishing Info: May 31, 2016 by Macmillan
Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Find it on the web: Buy from Amazon // GoodreadsDate Completed: April 18, 2016
Related Posts: Nil (Nil #1), Nil Unlocked (Nil #2)

Despite Rives and Skye's attempt to destroy Nil, the island remains. And back in this world, Nil won't let Skye go. Haunted by a darkness she can't ignore, Skye wrestles with Nil nightmares that worsen by the day and threaten to tear her apart. As Skye fights to keep her mind intact, she realizes that to finally break free of Nil, she must end Nil's vicious cycle once and for all--and she can't do it alone.
Who will return to Nil, and in the end, who will survive? In this thrilling final installment of the Nil series, the stakes have never been higher: everyone's fate hangs in the balance, including Nil's own--and Nil will fight to the death. When the full force of the island is unleashed, Skye faces an impossible choice, a cruel one she'd never imagined she'd have to make. Soon one Nil truth becomes painfully clear: only one side can win.
Losing isn't an option, but winning will cost Skye everything.

I’ve been a big fan of the NIL books since the very first book came out and I totally got those Lost vibes from it! The series has continued to be so much fun, complete with a creepy island, tough teens, and a neat kind of science-fiction that doesn’t rely so much on technology. NIL ON FIRE completed the trilogy and I was lucky enough to read it a little bit early thanks to a review copy from Macmillan!

I will admit — NIL ON FIRE started off a little bit slow for me. One (personal) problem that I had was that I read each book as an advance review copy, meaning I read them before they came out and that put so much time in between each book. I really did enjoy each one but it seemed like the further I got into the series, the harder it became to jump back in without a refresher! Again, a personal issue but if it’s been a while for you, it might be best to peek back into previous books to remind yourself about characters and the last events!

The other issue I had when starting NIL ON FIRE is that it felt like a long time before the action really started to pick up. My thoughts on the progression are kind of spoilery so this may be a big vague when I say that I felt like I was waiting kind of a long time for everything to really start coming together and to move past the introductory part of this book. There was a lot of time spent with feelings and intuitions but I would have loved to see the story move forward as all of that was going on and I felt like it was just standing still for a bit too long. Some of that could have easily been cut down and brought the readers back into the fast-paced excitement!

After those minor speed bumps, the rest of the book was fun and curious in true NIL fashion! I did find myself still missing more of the spotlight on Charley and Thad but I really grew to love Rives quite a bit over the last two books! Skye had a lot of spunk but she wasn’t my favorite character so I wasn’t quite as interested in her chapters of the book. The supporting cast of characters remained fantastic! I love the diversity with Nil-connected characters from all over and I really just love seeing a new team of people coming to work together.

NIL ON FIRE is the final book in the series so it was exciting to really see everything come to a close! It was interesting to see the sort of battle against Nil as the island really came into play (it even had its own POV!) and how the characters went up against it once and for all. The ending was satisfying and exciting and I still have such a fond place in my heart for these books! I think the first book is still my favorite of the series but I think it’s solid all around and one I’ll continue to recommend!

“The View from Goodreads” is a featured section in my reviews that I decided to incorporate! I tend to update my Goodreads status a LOT when I read — reactions, feelings, notes — so I thought it would be fun to share the sort of “reading process”! All status updates are spoiler-free (no specific plot points will be revealed) but will contain reactions to certain pages and/or characters!

Kept Me Hooked On: Unique sci-fi. Sometimes I get a little tired of so much sci-fi being tech or space-related. I liked that this was a little something different! It does have a sort of paranormal aspect too (I guess? Magical realism? Not sure what to call Nil’s involvement) but there it’s definitely refreshing to read something outside the box!
Left Me Wanting More: Action. I felt like the beginning was lacking a little action for me. There was a lot of dwelling on hunches and feelings and it took me a little while to get into the story.