NemeSIS – book review

NemeSIS
by Susan Marshall
Release Date:  April 4, 2017
Publisher:  Blue Moon Publishers
Stand Alone
Number of pages:  289
Kindle Edition
Source: Net Galley ARC
YA
Rating: PG-13
Read 3/30/17 to 4/2/17

There are a lot of emotions going on in this book.  Of course, it deals with teenage girls who are sisters so how could it not?  As the reader, the “outsider” if you will, there is so much to the family dynamic of Nadine, her sister Rachel, and their mom that Nadine herself cannot see while smack dab in the middle of it all.  Nadine’s father moved to New York, leaving them all behind in Canada.  Raising two high school age girls on her own for the first time while trying to start a new career that will support the family, it’s understandable how little the mom actually knows about what is going on in the home.

I’m no psychologist or psychiatrist, but I would hazard to guess that many young girls who have an actual chemical imbalance causing a mental health problem are not diagnosed  or mis-diagnosed because of “hormones”.  It’s so hard to know what is a normal outburst and when it’s over the top.  Especially for busy parents that actually only spend an hour or two a day with their teens.  Nadine is only 15 and the younger of the two sisters.  She cannot be expected to know what is extreme behavior and what is her sister just being mean.  It doesn’t help that, to spare her mom any more angst, she keeps mum about some significant events between the sisters.  I don’t know how she lived in that house.  I was on pins and needles through much of that book, so scared of what Rachel had in store for Nadine.  I can only imagine this is how it truly is to live with someone with such extreme moods.  I found those scenes between sisters, as well as Nadine’s thoughts on the interactions, very real.

In many ways this is a coming of age story.  Nadine learns that she has to stand up for herself.  She has to stop hiding from the world and truly live.  When she starts taking the necessary steps to have a life, when she gets bold, good things happen along with the bad.  She makes a great friend, she catches the eye of a wonderful boy, she gets a backbone.  Rachel ramps up her evil ways during this transition of Nadine’s, but by learning to stick up for her friends she also learns to stick up for herself.  It’s a great transformation to see.

One of the things I find extremely hard about reviewing an ARC is the grammar, spelling, and formatting.  You can never know if these are things that are being caught by the editor and/or beta readers and being corrected before publication.  I always hope that to be the case.  It’s often hard for me to view a book separate from these issues since they can mess with the flow of the story.  I have to say, although there were quite a few of these errors and it did mess with the story, I still really enjoyed this book.  I’m going to assume they are fixed for publication and this book will be even more wonderful.

Without giving any spoilers, I want to say I appreciate the way the author ended this story.  While quite a few things are resolved, there is no pretty bow on top making everything okay.  It’s a real and honest ending to this chapter in Nadine’s life.

4 stars

**I received an ARC of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review**