Book Title:        Zeroes (Zeroes, #01)
Author:               Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan, Deborah Biancotti
Number of pages:  560

Synopsis:

Ethan, aka “Scam,” has a way with words. When he opens his mouth, whatever he wants you to hear comes out. But Ethan isn’t just a smooth talker. He has a unique ability to say things he doesn’t consciously even know. Sometimes the voice helps, but sometimes it hurts – like now, when the voice has lied and has landed Ethan in a massive mess. So now Ethan needs help. And he needs to go to the last people who would ever want to help him – his former group of friends, the self-named “zeros” who also all possess similarly double-edged abilities, and who are all angry at Ethan for their own respective reasons. Brought back together by Scam’s latest mischief, they find themselves entangled in an epic, whirlwind adventure packed with as much interpersonal drama as mind-bending action.

(re: Goodreads @ Zeroes – Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan, Deborah Biancotti)

Should this book be picked up? the tl;dr review:

— The superpowers in this story aren’t all otherworldly. There’s a human quality to many of their abilities that exudes a magical realism vibe
— Cultural diversity seen through a multi-POV narrative that seamlessly jumps from one voice to another in building perspective
— Limited world-building is not problematic as readers are on the same knowledge playing field as the characters themselves
— Writing is wonderfully paced; 560-pages feels easy breezy
— The romance subplot isn’t too heavy although there’s a cautionary love-v/triangle happening; there are ships you can jump aboard on

Initial Thoughts

This book is incredibly fun. I will now proceed to hype this book up.

Full disclosure: I received an advanced reader copy of Zeroes from the Book Blog Ontario Meet-Up. I extend thanks to Simon Pulse for providing me with the opportunity to review this book.

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