3 out of 4 stars
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D.H. Gibbs’s Nika: A Seychatka Novella gives us action right off the bat. We follow the main character, Nika's, footsteps as she attempts to escape from a mysterious man referred to as Mr. TDD (Tall, Dark, and Dangerous). She’s right to be frightened and wise to run away as Mr. TDD turns out to be a man bent on kidnapping her – and he succeeds.
We’re given the benefit of having the perspectives and internal monologues of both Nika and Mr. TDD, whose true name is Demyan. There is a civilization populated by a group called Immortals who, as their name suggests, don’t age. They’re strong, good-looking, and heal incredibly quickly and Demyan is their second-in-command. As the story progresses, we discover that Nika is a long-lost princess of the Immortals and has a very important decision to make. She is in the unique position of being able to choose whether to become a full Immortal or become a Totem, a powerful creature that channels the wildness and power of the wolf. Which will she choose? Either way, a war is coming in which the Immortals and the Totems, once brothers, will face off.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book as a quick, easy, and entertaining read. The characters were well-developed and intriguing and the plot was easy to follow and suspenseful in a typical young adult novel fashion. Of course, no book geared toward a YA audience would be complete without a complicated romance and a bit of comic relief, which were both present in this novella.
Unfortunately, the book is riddled with grammar errors and needs to be reviewed by a professional editor. As such, I am only able to give Nika 3 out of 4 stars. I really wanted to be able to give full marks to this fun read, but the editing mistakes were too frequent and blatant to justify a full four stars.
This is definitely a book for young adults or those who love a good YA novella and I would certainly recommend it to that group in particular. It doesn’t have the makings of a classic, but can easily be read in a couple hours or less and is entertaining. I am looking forward to the release of the next book in the series and I hope that it will be void of the easily-fixed errors that unfortunately made their presence known in this initial novella.
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Nika
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