Such an interesting concept. Totally something I'd recommend to my students.

A very fast paced book that keeps you guessing all the way to the end, and then hoping for a sequel to answer all the questions you still have. I liked how Ms. Weber dealt with the self-worth of the main character Sofi Snow.
I really hope their is a sequel!

I found both the plot and the characters in this book to be massively underwhelming and cliched. The main character is every single overused hacker-character trope that we've seen before. I also found the love interest being of latino origins to not feel very genuine. The plot took over half of the book before it got interesting and I found the ending to not be worth the trouble it took to get there. Overall I found this book incredibly weak.

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Fiction for the opportunity to read and review The Evaporation of Sofi Snow by Mary Weber. The futuristic setting involves gaming with teenagers and children as the pawns. Sofi and her brother are part of the games because their mother is in charge of them and forced them to participate. An explosion occurs and her brother Shilo is kidnapped. Sofi contacts people that she knows are skilled enough to help her retrieve Shilo. Sofi has visions showing her what Shilo is going through, who he is with and where he is, all from his point of view. Sofi and her comrades discover what is happening to her brother and other children and it's more horrific than they would have ever believed! The story ends on a cliffhanger, making me anxious to read the sequel entitled 'Reclaiming Shilo Snow'. 4 stars for this sci fi dystopian!

A book that lives up to the hype! I really loved this book. I can't wait to read the next installment.

The Evaporation of Sofi Snow is set in the future. Earth is no longer ruled by a government, instead there are a system of corporations that are aligned with the Delonese… the inhabitants of the ice-planet that arrived eleven years ago. Sofi has had only her brother, Shilo, to count on since the death of her father… with her mother more interested in Corp 30 she has made sure that she’s the one person he can count on.

As part of a team representing Corp 30 in the Fantasy Fighting Arena Sofi is a talented online gamer and hacker with the one goal of winning to keep Shilo safe. The fights are a mix of real and virtual and only the most skilled succeed. When something goes wrong in one of the final fights and a bomb goes off, killing most of Sofi’s team everyone is convinced that Shilo was killed, but Sofi knows that’s not true… she knows he’s on the Delonese planet and she’ll do anything she has to in order to get him back. The one catch is that she’s not allowed on the planet, which means she’ll have to ask the one person she dislikes more than anyone.

Miguel is an Ambassador to the Delonese and someone is blackmailing him to keep the truth about the bomb in the Fantasy Fight games a secret. When Sofi comes to him for help, he knows she’s desperate, and he has to choose whether to help her and possibly start a war, or leave her behind and save his reputation.

I love alien books… and honestly, there are just not enough of them.

I also love books where our heroines are super smart and talented, and skilled and honestly, Sofi is all that and more. She’s a talented hacker/coder/gamer and everyone around her knows it. She hasn’t depended on anyone for years and she certainly has no urge to start now, but when her brother’s life is at stake, she’s willing to put her ego and the history she has with Miguel aside to help him. Sofi is just such an exquisitely developed character and there are so many layers to her. The girl who really wishes she had a mother who cared more about her and her brother than her job… the girl who, for the first time, had feelings for a boy that she was experiencing for the first time, the girl who is willing to do anything and everything to save her brother’s life. It’s so hard to just pin her down to one or two amazing things.

And Miguel … his story was a bit more subtle, but what we learn about him is that he’s way more complicated than he lets on. I just didn’t know what to think about him from the beginning but as the pieces of his story fall into place, you can’t help but want more for him and Sofi and you can see that despite this character he’s showing to the world, there is so much more to him.

Even the secondary characters jump off the page!

The story itself has some twists and turns and the ending is something I did NOT see coming. Weber had me thinking one thing the entire story and then BAM that is so not what was actually happening and I LOVE when books do that to me!

I want to know more about Sofi, I want to know more about Shilo, I want more Miguel!

If you don’t have this book on your radar yet, I highly recommend you get it there. This was an action packed, fast-paced story layered with the complications of politics, family bonds & relationships, loyalty, and betrayal. Fans of Sci-Fi and smart, complicated characters and relationships are definitely going to love this and I can’t wait for more in book 2!

2.5 stars

Eleven years ago, a new planet appeared in the solar system. The Delonese put an end to the Fourth World War and helped restore the Earth. Now instead of governments, corporations rule the Earth. Sofi Snow's mother is CEO of Corporation 30. Sofi is a gamer, one of the best. Her brother Shilo is a contestant in the Fantasy Fighting arena, and as part of his team, Sofi will do everything she can for Shilo to win. But when a bomb goes off in the arena and players die, Sofi finds herself under suspicion. With Shilo missing and presumed dead, Sofi endeavours to track down her little brother, even if it means going to the Delonese planet.
Miguel is an ambassador to the Delonese. He uses his charm and good looks to learn secrets, but someone has learned one of Miguel's own and is blackmailing him.
With everything that Miguel has worked for now threatened, can he go through with his plan?
Will Sofi find her brother and the person(s) responsible for the attack?

The Evaporation of Sofi Snow had some very intriguing elements, but was slightly disappointing.
I liked Sofi and Miguel, and enjoyed reading from their points of view.
The plot was a mixed bag - there were some twists that I did see coming, but there were also some that I didn't - but it held my attention.
The writing style was mostly good but there were times where things felt a bit vague. For example, I would have liked more information on AIs - there was an AI character but there wasn't any background on how long AIs had been around or how they worked, or even how many there were. There were also times when I wasn't sure what I was supposed to be imagining, like at the beginning where it felt a bit like I'd been thrown in the deep end. I know that people don't like info dumps, but it would have been good to have some more detail about the equipment in the room that Sofi and the other team members were in at the arena.

Overall this was an enjoyable read but it fell slightly flat.

Very much its own form of science fiction.


I received an ARC for a fair review.

The Evaporation of Sofi Snow was a book with a well-thought concept and plot! While the two points of view the story is told from seemed a little choppy at first, the character perspectives came together nicely the further into the story you went! I wish that there would have been some more detailed descriptions to some parts following the games, as the beginning of the story was wonderfully detailed, but I enjoyed the read, overall!

". . . sometimes I hate all the death. It makes my soul tired."

Speechless. OK, maybe a little more than speechless. Like "What?!!" I actually doubled checked to make sure I wasn't missing a page or anything. Yep. The first book in this new series by Mary Weber, The Evaporation of Sofi Snow ends with a major cliffhanger. Cliffhanger makes me sad. It gets me angry. It makes me want to sought out the author right away and tell her, "how could you do this?!! When will book 2 be out?!" Instead, I held my tongue and my urge to bombard her on social media. Simply because I trust the author. I trust that the author of The Storm Siren Trilogy knows how to write and give me a story that completes what she started. So back to Sofi Snow.

The Evaporation of Sofi Snow was on my radar the moment I heard about it, simply because of the author. Then when the cover came out, I just knew that I had to read it. And read it I did. Despite the cliffhanger, this is one fantastic read. If you're into the sci-fi or high fantasy genre, you will enjoy this. Fans of this genre will most likely fall in love with the world the author had built. The use of high-tech systems and video gaming references, and add in the sci-fi elements of aliens and artificial intelligence, brings this game/book to a whole new level.

In terms of characters, both our main characters, Sofi and Miguel were well developed. Both complicated with so many layers for readers to discover. Sofi's intelligent, resourceful, loyal and witty, while Miguel is a combination of mischievous and charming. Both great characters for readers to really side with. However, I have some hesitation on the many choices of these characters, particularly Sofi from what we've read. The ease of her decisions would not be something I particularly want to highlight in a novel for teens. Despite that as well, I trust the author to address it in a meaningful and explain the significance of Sofi's choices. I think with the last few scenes in this book, there are already some of that at play or it could just be my mind playing tricks on me. The romance was pretty intense on the emotional level early on.

"The soft bloom of a love barely formed and the permanent reminder he'd plucked it and toss it aside like a cad.."

The sibling relationship between Sofi and Shilo is the crux of what brings everything together, but readers will pick up the many themes and messages that gives The Evaporation of Sofi Snow substance. Messages that relates to relationships - romance, sibling and parent/child will hit home to many of us on a personal level, but on a broad scope, human trafficking and political atmosphere frame this world that Mary Weber so thoughtfully created. It's subtle enough that some hoping for a lighter fare won't catch on, but for those that love to dig deeper, its presence's known.

Fast paced from the get go, The Evaporation of Sofi Snow brings readers on an intense ride. You may even feel like you're in the middle of a high stake fantasy video game. You'll wonder along with Sofi who can you trust in the world, even if the person is close to you. With underlying messages that relates more closely to the real world, this will be one story you won't be able to get it out of your head, at least until the next one's out.

". . . but if her weirdness had caught him, it was her innocence that stole him."


This review first appeared on Just Commonly blog.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from the author/publisher. I was not required to write a positive review, and have not been compensated for this. This is my honest opinion.

Please note, quotes were taken from an advance reader copy, and therefore an uncorrected proof. Please do not reuse quotes unless verified with the released copy. Thank you.

I found " The Evaporation of Sofi Snow" by Mary Weber a bit difficult to get into at first but once I did I was not able to put it down. Sofi is an avid online gamer who supports her younger brother, Shilo, in a mix of virtual and real blood sport that takes place on Earth. Humanity is living with the new reality of the presence of the Delonese ice-planet that arrived eleven years ago. After Sofi's brother is presumed dead after a bomb blast during the competition, Sofi is the only one who believes he is alive. Against all odds, Sofi decides to try to stage a rescue.
As I said, the book was a bit hard to get into at first but it picks up very quickly. I found myself immersed in Sofi's world. This is a promising new series.
I received a copy of this book from Thomas Nelson via Netgalley for free in exchange for an honest review.

A YA futuristic sci-fi that draws comparisons to The Hunger Games. This story is very much it's own with an alien race having come to Earth 10 years earlier stopping a World War. Now, the planet is split up with corporations ruling in place of the government. There is a gaming competition called Fantasy Fighting that involves both virtual and real-life combat. When something goes wrong in the games, Sofi is determined to find her brother who she insists is alive. This is a world filled with secrets, lies, and mystery. Even though the alien race brings so much good, there is something not quite right. If you enjoy YA sci-fi or futuristic novels filled with action, make sure to check out The Evaporation of Sofi Snow.

This book had an ease about it that made it easy for me to jump right into the story and form an attachment to the characters. Go Sofi. I am Team Sofi all the way. She is strong, intelligent, and fierce. All the qualities that a team leader should have. Thus the reason that she and her team are the number one in the FanFight Games. Which reading about the games did feel a little like the Hunger Games. Yet, I am glad that the author did not try to spin this book to run parallel to the Hunger Games. AS I said, there was some elements but this book should separate.

This book had a sci-fi element to it as well that I enjoyed. Being a sci-fi fan, I was pleased with the plot as well as the location. I could picture the world that Sofi resided in. Yes, there is a romance going on between Sofi and Miguel but it does not overshadow the storyline with minimal interaction.

After the action in the beginning of the story, it does slow down for about a third of the story until you get past the half way mark and then it picks up again. The story gets darker with some surprises. The ending left me hanging. I can't wait to see if Sofi survives.

Years ago, the Earth was ravaged by a World War. Then the Delonese ice-planet and it’s alien arrived in their solar system and put an end to the war and attempted to mediate. A system was set up on Earth where corporations rule in the place of governments. Sofi’s only constant was her brother, Shilo. However, Sofi mother enrolled her brother in the Earth’s Fantasy Fighting games, a mix of real and virtual blood sport, where Sofi also battles behind the scenes as the online gamer. However, a bomb takes out a quarter of the arena, and it is believed that her brother is dead but Sofi doesn’t believe it. Sofi, on the run from her own corporation and the rest of the world, knows he’s on the Delonese ice-planet because she’s had dreams that are telling her he’s there. However, no one but ambassadors is allowed there – so she enlists the help of the charming playboy, Miguel.

The Evaporation of Sofi Snow was… not what I expected. I was expecting a thrilling science-fiction with some really great world building. What I got was a mediocre book, with poorly written world-building, a messy plot, and a confusing game. The Fantasy Fighting game was the most confusing element – it could have been done really well but I’m not sure how the game actually worked and how the virtual and real elements really worked together – a poorly explained element. It also came off a bit like The Hunger Games aswell, but it had zero explanation as to why these games existed in the first place, so it really impacted upon the poor world building.

The world building itself was done poorly. Why did the corporations hold so much power? How did the system really work? Do the corporations hold power because they hold the resources? This information was lacking. I was also really looking forward to some really great science-fiction and a new alien race and a new planet. I was expecting some really great intergalactic politics. However, intergalactic politics was barely non-existent, which really disappointed me. Another element I disliked was the plot itself. I felt like it was a very messy plot and it shifted so often that it was a bit confusing at times. I did like that Sofi’s main motivation was her brother, but I’d have loved to have seen more of their actual relationship on-page.

A positive that came from The Evaporation of Sofi Snow is that we have a gamer girl main character, she was a skilled player and a skilled hacker and this was never belittled, so that was a positive. The romance also really leaves a lot to be desired, it was very drama-filled. Mary Weber avoided the insta-love trope by giving them a history, which is always good. Miguel and Sofi had once dated but it ended in tears because Miguel broke up with Sofi because she was apparently too good for him, and she was a mess because she of course, didn’t know this, but just thought he wasn’t attracted to her and it was this massive conflict between the two.

Overall, a really disappointing read and I definitely wouldn’t recommend it any science-fiction fans.

The Evaporation of Sofi Snow is a YA sci-fi story that I thought had potential, but ended up being just mediocre for me. I thought the games in the book were interesting. The mix of real and virtual reality was an interesting concept but I was a little confused about how exactly it worked. I also felt like the part at the beginning with the games was maybe a bit too long. One of the most interesting parts of the book was the "planet" and the aliens. I'll give you one guess what the planet really was, think Star Wars. Why no one figured this out before a bunch of teens did is beyond me. I really don't care for books that make the teens smarter than the adults.

I really didn't care for any of the characters in the book. Both Sofi and her ex, Miguel had too many issues for me. Sofi is angry with her mother, with good reason, and she is acting out and doing things just to spite her. And Miguel has done some really shady things in his past. These kids are way too young to have so much baggage which is really sad. I think it would have worked better as a story if it had been written about adults. Then maybe we would have been spared the teen angst. There is also the friend Heller who initially seemed really cool, but then got super annoying with his jealousy.

The book ends on a huge cliffhanger and you definitely have to read the next book to find out what happens next, but I'm pretty sure I can predict what is going to happen and what all the secrets probably are, so I'm good leaving it where it is.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Thomas Nelson for giving me a copy of this book for review.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1933667548?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

Ever since the Delonese ice-planet arrived eleven years ago, Sofi's dreams have been vivid. Alien. In a system where Earth's corporations rule in place of governments and the humanoid race orbiting the moon are allies, her only constant has been her younger brother, Shilo. As an online gamer, Sofi battles behind the scenes of Earth's Fantasy Fighting arena where Shilo is forced to compete in a mix of real and virtual blood sport. But when a bomb takes out a quarter of the arena, Sofi's the only one who believes Shilo survived. She has dreams of him. And she's convinced he's been taken to the ice-planet.

Except no one but ambassadors are allowed there.

For Miguel, Earth's charming young playboy, the games are of a different sort. As Ambassador to the Delonese, his career has been built on trading secrets and seduction. Until the Fantasy Fight's bomb goes off. Now the tables have turned and he's a target for blackmail. The game is simple: Help the blackmailers, or lose more than anyone can fathom, or Earth can afford.

Review:

I was very curious about this book when I saw the title. Though I don’t normally read a lot of sci-fi, I was intrigued by the summary and decided to give this one a try. While I did find it interesting, it didn’t grip me as much as I would have hoped. Also, the book itself ends in a major cliffhanger, so the story feels very much unfinished.

I enjoyed how the author chose to write the future world—with old fashions being recycled, celebs out to cause mischief and gossip, and people constantly searching for the next greatest thing, whether that be the latest wonder drug or a new Hunger Games-style arena fight. It felt very real, and—what was scary—not too far from our own modern world.

In this book, (minor spoiler) the author decided to take on the issue of human trafficking. This is not an easy subject, and makes the book quite a bit heavier than it might have been otherwise. What the author was trying to get across (other than how horrific human trafficking is) wasn’t entirely clear. (end minor spoiler) I’m hoping that I’ll see more of the plot and some of the themes in this book resolved in the next book.

Overall, I’d rate this book 3 out of 5 stars. While The Evaporation of Sofi Snow is unique in its plot, and bold in approaching some heavy topics, it lacks any sense of resolution or completeness, leaving the reader wondering if the characters have any hope at all in their very broken world. This book will appeal most to fans of The Hunger Games and other similar dystopian/sci-fi books.

Recommended for Ages 14 and up

Cultural Elements:
Miguel is hispanic. Sofi has Cherokee heritage.

Profanity/Crude Language Content: 
Barely any—a few “What the—” and “WTF” thrown in.

Romance/Sexual Content: 
Miguel is described as being a player, and it is mentioned that he has slept with many different women. (Part of the back story is that he almost took Sofi’s innocence, but refrained.) Miguel and Sofi strongly desire each other, and remember “the feel of each other’s skin, and lips,” etc. The story features the issue of human trafficking, and hints at sex trafficking as well. Sofi undresses in front of Heller, and later in front of Miguel. It is clear this affects them both, though that was not her intention. Heller is obsessively infatuated with Sofi, and goes to great lengths to “protect” her.

Spiritual Content
: The Delonese chant their strange philosophy in a ritual, but it doesn’t seem directed towards a deity. Instead, it seems to glorify their race and technological advances.

Violent Content: 
The book starts off at the FanFight games, which is a blend between virtual reality and reality. Some of the arena elements attack/harm the players, and some of the injuries are fairly graphic. A violent explosion later takes the lives of many of the players and participants, but no details are given. There are also some minor injuries and a few deaths towards the middle of the book, but these are non-graphic. Towards the end however, a flashback Sofi has of the Delonese prepping her and some other kids for a medical procedure is very graphic and somewhat disturbing.

Drug Content
: Some mention of wonder drugs (mostly in a medical context). Miguel serves alcohol at his party to “loosen tongues.”

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you for this book. I think I am not the right audience for it. I did not enjoy it and did not finish it. I will not post a negative review though. Thank you and good luck with it.

This book is a call out to gamers, hunger games fans, alien-lovers, sci-fi fans, inter-galactic politics junkies, trafficking-fighters, dreamers, family, love, and cliff hangers.

First of all, I'm not a gamer--but I do adore all of those other things. That said, the gaming beginning of the book started off a bit rough/slow for me, trying to figure everything out, trying to connect, etc. But Mary Weber is awesome, so I continued.

Here are some of the things I liked:

Once the story got more relational and personal (meaning: more backstory in this case), I was caught up in it. There were spots where her artistic storytelling style made me halt, but overall Weber did a great job creating tension between Sofi and her mom; the adoring sibling relationship between her missing brother, Shilo; the fine line of love and hate raging between the Miguel and Sofi, and the mystery & whodunit questions -- aliens? Those in earthly power? Friends? All of the above?

Being the international buff that I am, the intergalactic cultural aspects of the aliens thrilled me (total culture nerd!) Ha! Loved the exchanges, their skills and strengths, and that wonder behind them. As a self-proclaimed ambassador of sorts (I travel frequently) I longed for good relations between the aliens and humans. I even hoped for things between them that sadly didn't happen. Alas, it could not in this story. But maybe in the sequel????

On voice: Miguel's and Sofi's voice were fun to listen to, and I liked them both. To me, they both sounded older than their ages, but hey, its the future and they both had really hard lives that made them grow up and act older. So there.

On pace: The first 25% felt slow/confusing for me, but after that it was downhill and fun.

On themes: I love seeing the heart behind an author. Weber does a great job reaching into bigger issues. She hits on moral character either eroding or transforming, saving or destroying. (Miguel's character development/backstory was my fav!) She approaches the issue of trafficking, raising questions and demands. She vulnerably goes into family dynamics and how it effects everything-- past, present, future. There is redemption, power, exposure, and hope all weaved into some crazy teens who are willing to take a risk.

On the ending: The only way I can describe the cliffhanger at the end was that it felt artsy. But I'm excited to see where the next book goes.