Zero Repeat Forever was surprising! After having a really horrible experience with a string of poorly written ARCs, I took an extended break from NetGalley. This is my first ARC I’ve read since, and I was wary going in, but this was honestly so well thought out from start to finish! I think in a lot of aspects, it’s so well thought out that some of the choices Prendergast makes are a bit too on the nose… Like there are epigraphs of Edgar Allen Poe littered throughout each section, and the main character’s name is Raven, and her alien companion gives her a copy of The Raven and the title is an alien translation of “nevermore”... Even the cover design hits the nail on the head so specifically. Eighth/August calls Raven “Dandelion” because she’s got big, poofy hair, and guess what’s on the cover? It’s those sorts of choices, but I can’t really be mad at it, because it ties together really well and it’s fun stumbling upon these little things. It’s just a lot. I see what you’re doing, Prendergast. You don’t have to drive the concept home quite that hard. I get it.

What I loved about this novel was how prepared these characters were for the apocalypse. Prendergast chooses to set the initial story at a wilderness survival camp, where the counselors are training in their specialities before the campers arrive. These teens have a strong reason to be handy with weapons and they continually make logical decisions in dire life or death situations where many other characters of apocalyptic stories would flounder. As one of these savvy street-smart teens, Raven is especially delightful to read. She’s not your ordinary YA heroine. She’s hardened by her situation, and often cold hearted. She does what she needs to do to survive and I have a lot of respect for that.

I think this is also one of my first Canadian YA reads. That added a lot more gravitas to the story that I really appreciated. As a Canadian myself, I knew exactly where these characters were, and could visualise a post-apocalyptic Calgary. Canada’s not often a country writers choose as their setting, unless they’re Canadian themselves (which I think is Prendergast’s case), so there’s a certain novelty there. Canada’s always considered by the outside world as this happy, shiny place where people are just nice all the time, and seeing this gritty side of it is kind of a delight. The majority of the novel is set in the dead of winter, which is accurately portrayed and raises the stakes. I like that Prendergast uses that aspect of Canadian climate so effectively in terms of apocalypse because again, most of the time when people think apocalyptic tundra, they immediately think Russia. It’s a change in pace and I like that.

One of the things that bothered me throughout, which is something that always bothers me in alien stories, is these creatures are humanoid. They speak English and they share the social concept of gender. I like it a lot more when authors give you aliens who are completely other, who have their own language, and concepts. There are almost enough identifiers of Prendergast’s aliens that marks them as different. They’ve got some sort of motor oil sludge that acts as their blood, and they breathe through a tube in their throat, and they wear armour at all times, because they have flesh weakened by the natural air at normal altitude. Biggest difference of all is they can’t speak. They communicate through sign language. I think there’s just about enough to differentiate the aliens from humans that Prendergast can successfully get away with it, especially with the reveal at the end, which explains why she made those specific character building choices.

The relationship between Raven and Eighth/August feels like it shouldn’t work, but it somehow does. People are calling it a Beauty and the Beast situation, except the Beast is an alien robot thing sent to destroy the human race and repopulate the Earth. It feels more important than that though. It actually brings up a Romeo and Juliet style moral concept of two species, who blindly fear and hate each other potentially laying down their weapons in the name of love. The stakes are so high against Raven and Eighth’s bond that it seems utterly impossible that they can survive in this world where one another’s species is so willing to murder each other on sight. And those stakes make that desperation to find a way to be together a literal ache.

I haven’t read or watched a lot of invasion or zombie apocalypse type storylines, so I don’t know if this happens a lot, but another think I deeply appreciated about this book, was that people died. And they died a lot. Characters you thought would be around for the entirety of the plot got the ax during the next raid or rescue mission attempted. Every single time something major happened, someone died, and again, it heightened the stakes. It was gritty and gruesome and real. To a certain extent, it felt until about halfway through like a repeat of The Hunger Games, with how quickly the characters got picked off, but Prendergast is doing enough unique things to make it her own. I just really love a dark, gritty plot where the author isn’t afraid to kill off her characters.

Wow. What an amazing roller coaster of emotions. Earth has been invaded by a very hostile alien race, and the only people left to escape or fight back are a group of defiant teenagers. One of the aliens, August, longs to be free and begins a torturous relationship with one human, Raven. Fans of Stephenie Meyer's "The Host" will love "Zero Repeat Forever".

First of all, I'm so proud that this book is Canadian! I love seeing a contemporary fantasy/sci fi novel set in my home country!

This book throws you right into the action, and you're left to figure out what's going on. This was exciting because the world was already fully developed, you just have to catch up to it. 

Though there are many YA dystopia novels that are popular right now, this one is unique because we get two perspectives: our main character Raven and Eighth, one of the Nahx creatures. So we can see the aftermath from the point of view of a surviving human and her enemy. 

I did lose some interest in part 3. It was getting so repetitive and the story stopped moving forward. But once I pushed past that part, it got exciting again. It was quite emotional too. I had tears in my eyes for the last quarter of the book. And the ending was so thrilling and shocking! 

Throughout the book I was wondering what the title meant. And wow! When they explain that phrase in the novel I was so excited. It refers to something literary, which I love (I won't give away any more because I don't want to spoil it). If you read the book you'll understand. 

This is a great story with an original twist. I highly recommend it. I'm curious to hear your thoughts on this book if you've read it!

This was my very first advanced released copy of a book from www.netgalley.com and I was so excited to begin reading this one. Typically, sci-fi isn't my go-to genre, but something about this one just drew me in.

The story is told from Ravens POV and Eighth/Augusts POV (personally I would of LOVED to read more from Augusts POV). It is set near Calgary, AB (yay Canada) at the time of an alien invasion.

The story is very slow paced for about the first 50%, but I promise it picks up from there. Then there's the last 10%!! Wow.

I don't think I've ever read book that I would love to see it turned into a movie so much (provided it's not butchered, obviously). This is just one of those books where you can't help but love the "bad guy".

My only other problem with the book was that it felt a little... Stockholm Syndrome-y. I hate saying that because honestly, after about that 50% mark I didn't want to put the book down.

That cliffhanger though... I need book #2!!

I highly recommend - 4/5 stars.

Eighth is Nahx who has no voice and no name. He has only his rank and his primary duty to protect his Offisde. When she is killed, he begins to remember snippets of a former existence. Raven, Tucker and Topher are sent to a remote summer camp after a prank ends badly and they have a choice between the camp or worse punishment. While they are at camp, the Naxh invasion begins and they and the rest of their group must survive on their own. They join a community holed up underground in an abandoned military station. Raven is spared by Eighth early on in the story and when the group leaves the base to seek their families in Calgary, they encounter more Naxh whose goal is "Dart the humans. Leave them where they fall". Eighth feels a connection to Raven and when she is injured, he helps her recuperate. They forge a way to communicate and Raven names Eighth August when he refers to the eighth moon as the time he was created.
Most post-apocalyptic stories deal with before and after a cataclysmic event or invasion and this story does as well. Where it excels is in the way August and Raven's friendship develops and how they learn to communicate through August's signs and Raven's words. The Naxh have a Borg-like mentality and as August becomes more disconnected from them, he becomes more human. There is some humorous moments as well, such as:
"What do those signs mean?"
"He just apologized. He does that a lot."
"How very Canadian."
The story is written from a dual POV, August's and Raven's. There is a lot of diversity in the characters and the settings of the story. I liked both Raven and August but could not understand why she persisted in thinking Tucker was the love of her life, when he obviously didn't deserve it. But then again, she is a sixteen year old girl. One of the great things about reading book set in Canada is that you automatically relate to the locales, the Rocky Mountains, the west coast and Alberta.
Given that this is book one of the Naxh invasion I expected there to be a lead into the next book and it ended the way I expected. The book was a little slow in parts and perhaps could be a little shorter, but I am uncertain what you would leave out. Prendergast's writing style is engaging and the further you read, the more captivated you become with the characters, especially with August. She builds a vision of a post-apocalyptic world that you can visualize through her characters.
Many thanks to NetGalley, publisher Simon and Shuster Canada, and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was actualy kind of boring the timetable was quite long but nothing really happened. Raven was a little too aggressive which made it unbelievable. The explaining of what was going on was not very clear.. A pretty good read but too rambling.

This book reminded me so very much of the Fifth Wave, I enjoyed that show quite a lot. Aliens invading and it being a sci-fi the book overall wasn't too bad. I would recommend it to a young adult audience who like a bit of romance, there is a bit of darkness in it and the intrigue to keep the reader's attention.

Zero Repeat Forever an exceptional alien invasion story. It takes place after much of the world has already surrendered to the Nahx. A diverse group of teens and young adults set to serve as camp counselors have managed to evade alien detection, but now find themselves running low on food and patience. Eager for information, rescue, and fellow humans, they strike out to discover what still exists outside their corner of the forest.
The 5th Wave meets Beauty and the Beast in this fast-paced and heart-stopping novel about an invasion of murderous creatures and one girl fighting for her life at the end of the world.

He has no voice or name, only a rank, Eighth. He doesn’t know the details of the mission, only the directives that hum in his mind.
Dart the humans. Leave them where they fall.
His job is to protect his Offside. Let her do the shooting.
Until human kills her boyfriend
Sixteen-year-old Raven is at summer camp when the terrifying armored Nahx invade. Isolated in the wilderness, Raven and her fellow campers can only stay put. Await rescue. Raven doesn’t like feeling helpless, but what choice does she have?

Then a Nahx kills her boyfriend.

Thrown together in a violent, unfamiliar world, Eighth and Raven should feel only hate and fear. But when Raven is injured, and Eighth deserts his unit, their survival comes to depend on trusting each other.
This was a fast-paced story which kept my interest to the end. I loved the characters in this novel. The interactions between Eighth and Rave are priceless and bring to light the fine line between love and hate.
Even though the book ends with a cliff hanger, I was totally pleased with this story and delighted by all the unanswered questions that were brought to light in the final pages. So many important things were resolved, the unexplored issues brought up at the end were just enough to expand an already interesting story into a myriad of new possibilities that made me reconsider everything I had read. Great stuff!

Zero Repeat Forever is a well written alien invasion story filled with violence and suspense. It's also filled with an uncommon amount of empathy, love, and hope. It's a wonderful combination that results in a memorable read and an enthusiastic recommendation for older teens and adults.

I’d give this book a 3.75/5 stars, and here is why:

Let me start off by saying that a Canadian author wrote this novel and that is awesome because I too am Canadian!! I also loved how the story takes place in mainly Calgary, Alberta, in Canada! How awesome is that?!!!

Now onto the review:

This book had AMAZING diversity! Our main character, Raven, is half black and half white. Her step-dad is also Metis. Two of our other characters, Felix and Sawyer are LGBTQ, which was great too!

I’ll admit, the first about 50-60 pages of this book were slow. I wasn’t sure I’d like the rest of the book much, it felt a lot like the fifth wave. However, later on the pacing did indeed get faster and the similarities to the 5th wave wasn’t as bad. That being said, after the first bit of the book, it did deal with different topics than the 5th wave did. At some parts the pacing was great! Fast-paced and crazy, other times it could get slow. I LOVE Beauty and the Beast. It’s one of my favourite fairytales. I was totally fine with her befriending an alien and giving off all those beauty and the beast vibes. Their friendship was flawed, definitely not Insta love, it felt almost real! This book was fantastic, in more ways than one.

Honestly, this book got me thinking about the flaws in humans, about grief and how it can ruin us or make us better. How sometimes humans will say that they’re way better than others, but really are we? Aren’t we quick to pull a trigger just because of vengeance, don’t we have weapons than can destroy all of humanity by the touch of a button? We aren’t perfect, in this book it felt like humans could be worse than the enemy at some points. If there’s one reason to read the book I’d just say because if you look in between the lines it’ll really reveal many truths, which was great. I’m not saying it’s heavy with content either. It was easy to read and get through, and when it started getting me hooked, my my, I got hooked.

Characters: Let me start with the ones I didn’t like: Topher, Tucker, Emily, and Liam. I never liked Tucker. I know that she loved him, but whenever she described the things she did I never really saw what she liked so much. Through this book we learn lots of things about Tucker through flashbacks because a Nahx did kill him. As we learned more about him, I really didn’t like him. Topher now. I didn’t like him either. He was a hateful jerk. There was a time when I didn’t hate him but for the most part I really didn’t like him at all. He was so consumed by vengeance that it ruined who he was on the inside. Who he could’ve been. Emily. I straight out don’t like her, for a few reasons, all of which I can’t say. However, for me, she isn’t real or respectful. Finally Liam, I hate Liam. He was so stuck up and annoying. He always tried to pick a fight, and it felt like he was so full of himself. Now for the characters I liked. I really did like Sawyer, he was a great guy. He’s strong, from the military, and brave! So is Felix, they’re like the leaders, and they’re pretty great leaders too. They’re loyal to their friends, which was great! Then there was Xander. I really liked him. He was a great friend, he cared about her. He was real and he was good. I really did like his character because he seemed like the only one of them who was legit, he didn’t seem like a faker, he was kind.

Now despite my anger with those characters, except for Xander, Sawyer, and Felix, let’s talk about Raven and Eighth. Raven was a strong female lead! I admired her strength. She was indeed strong and no one could deny that. She had a black belt and could definitely beat someone up. I felt like in the last part of the book I like her the most, because she really does change. However, at one point I really didn’t like her. That was when she was hanging around with Eighth. She was strong and everything before which was awesome and I understand why she hated Eighth, the Nahx at the beginning, but it felt WAY too dragged out. I won’t say anything because of spoilers, but I get it, you shouldn’t trust him he’s an alien. However, if someone proves themselves worthy enough times, why keep on hating and hating? I liked her strong will, but after a while it just dragged out. I know part of this was because I read from Eighth perspectives so you really know what’s going on and what the ‘beast’ is thinking. Eighth was just so innocent! He was a Nahx, a bad guy, but he wasn’t bad. He obviously wasn’t all good, he had his flaws, he had his past, but he wasn’t evil.

For the plot. Like I mentioned above, the pacing was off. Sometimes it was great and fast, other times it was pretty slow. Nonetheless, when the story took off, it was off. At action scenes all you can do is read and devour this novel because you’re thinking, come on, come on, win! Although the story idea didn’t feel that original to me, the idea behind the ending and the cliff hanger did. It left off on such a cliff hanger. Part of me wants to read the second book now, but another part of me is thinking I don’t want to know what happens. If what I think happens does, it will be even more heartbreaking. One thing I’ll say though, the ending took me by surprise. The second half of the book was way better than the first, and it was mostly all action-packed with many truths revealed. I loved how it was a Beauty and the Beast retelling, and I think that the author did a fantastic job of writing it. I had a few cons though. The beginning felt way too slow and extremely similar to the 5th wave. At some points it felt like the exact same. Those are two of the main reasons why I gave it the rating I did, but I felt that the second part of the book picked itself up nicely. It was great.

Overall, thank you Simon and Schuster for sending me this arc for review. I really enjoyed it despite some of the slower parts at the beginning. Honestly, I really didn’t like Topher or Tucker at all. Raven was strong-willed, but also human. I felt her anger to be over excessive sometimes, but we got through it. August was kind and he was good. One thing I liked about both of these characters was that they had flaws, they weren’t perfect and that made them all the better! The pacing felt off sometimes and the second half was extremely better than the first half, but overall I do recommend this book. Reading in between the lines you see how grief can ruin some people, how vengeance can take over their heart. You can see how just because we’re human it doesn’t mean we’re better than the enemy. If you liked the 5th wave I definitely recommend! Thanks for reading this review and have a great day!!

Invasion stories seem to be all the rage lately and so I was eager to see what this one would deliver. I love stories where hated enemies become unlikely allies and sometimes more and I couldn't wait to see what would happen with these two.

Unfortunately, this novel just wasn't for me.

It is terribly slow; going through the mundane motions of Raven and company trying to survive. And I get why the pace is slower. They are now living in an unknown world and don't know how to proceed--I know I sure wouldn't. But I wanted more action and not just mini cut scenes of them being attacked by the Nahx here and there.

It would have helped to get a little more insight into the situation at hand. Again, I get that they are on their own and lost but an attempt to investigate more of what is happening in the world would have given my something else to focus on. I needed more clues about who the Nahx were; why they wanted to invade earth--not just how to kill them. This simply becomes a story about survival and not one about trying (or even attempting to learn how) to save the world.

I also wanted Raven and Eighth to meet a lot earlier than they did (I think it was around the 50% mark?). I craved that interaction between them because I simply got tired of Raven moping about Tucker (her dead boyfriend) and the stalemate her present company seemed to be stuck in. By the time they (her and Eighth) meet, I wasn't as invested as I wanted to be. They have a confusing relationship and I will be the first to admit I didn't understand how their relationship evolved as it did. It didn't win me over.

The last 20 pages were rather exciting. Finally, we get some action and Raven starts to actually do something about the situation at hand. It's a good twist but at this point, it was a little too late for me to be truly impressed.

Now, I think I will be in the minority with this review and there are a lot of positives to this book that will draw readers in. I loved the setting (rarely do I get to read books set in Canada). I loved how diverse the cast was and how natural the diversity was. I never felt like characters were thrown in simply to get the "diverse" label. Additionally, Eighth's character development was intriguing.

It's just that I need action or various plot twists to keep me invested. I'm not one for slower plots. But readers who like novels that gradually build or if they particularly loved the movie Arrival (2016), I think they will truly enjoy this one.

A very interesting book. The book does indeed move slowly at times, but that's only because the book isn't a fast-paced action novel. Instead, it's about the struggle of humanity against others that are just as fierce as themselves. I found the plot quite compelling, and I enjoyed that the book tackled some thorny issues and had the two main characters fight. It showed how complicated relationships of any kind can be.

I'm not sure where the next book will go, but I am looking forward to reading it.

Thanks to Simon and Schuster Canada and NetGalley for an electronic ARC of this novel, in exchange for an honest review.
Raven is a teenager, working with a few of her friends at a summer camp in order to honour her community service hours issued to her by the judge. However, before the camp gets underway a group of heavily armoured creatures (Raven and her friends call these strangers “The Nahx”) invade the camp, and Raven and her friends are on the run for their lives.
Eighth is a Nahx, and his only directive is to ‘kill all humans’. He doesn’t know why but he does as he is told, until his partner is killed and he abandons his group. When he meets Raven during a raid, he does the opposite of his directive and saves her- even though she makes it very clear that she despises him. Soon the two are forced to work together in order to survive.
“Zero Repeat Forever” by Gabrielle Prendergast is an apocalyptic YA novel. It combines a little bit of everything but mostly, I was reminded of “The 5th Wave” and “Divergent”. The problem with YA novels of this particular genre is they are everywhere- the market is literally inundated with novels just like this one. There cannot be complete creativity in a YA dystopian novel, because there are bound to be some similarities with the others, and this novel is no different.
I enjoyed the character of Raven (again, a female protagonist- no surprise), and the Nahx creature was creative. The novel was easy enough to read once it got going, and I had some interest in seeing how it ended. Now of course, this is just the first novel in several (my guess, a trilogy) but it would have done its job if it had been just a standalone novel. The characters were likable enough, the plot was engaging and the ending was actually only semi-predictable. Prendergast definitely has some writing talent, I am just getting a little exhausted of this genre.

I began reading this book with a little apprehension noting the category of Young reader. I have read excellent titles in this category and "Zero Repeat Forever" could certainly belong in regular Sci-Fy or Fiction.
The tale is somewhat familiar dealing with another World ending by Aliens attack but the way this book is structured and written makes this subject matter fresh and original.
The characters are well defined and their purposes and personnality becomes clear very quickly. I will not reveal the plot so that you can fully enjoy this book.

A great tale by G.S. Prendergast, full of original ideas with suspense, horror at time and a page-turner that is guaranteed to make you lose a bit of sleep while you convince yourself to turn just one more page before sleep, very hard to put down.
Number one of a proposed series I am already anxious to get book 2!! Go buy it and you will enjoy it!

First line: "<i>There is a light floating above me.</i>"

As always, I would like to thank Netgalley for allowing me the opportunity to read this novel as well as Simon & Schuster Canada for approving my wish and granting me the chance to read this amazing novel.

Now, on to the review. Where to start?
I started reading this novel a bit warily, because in the first few pages it seemed really quite crazy with superhuman machine-alien-robot-creatures landing on Earth, in Canada no less, and "darting" humans, which essentially insta-kills them. Seems pretty out there no? Well, it was.... and it was GREAT! My wariness quickly died down and I was so far into this novel, I had trouble sleeping - it was just that good.

The plot of the story is mysterious and troubling, but you start to really get into it. You want to see the survival of this group of ruffians (teenagers) from a survival summer camp. You want to see the destruction of the Nahx creatures, because they are just too bad to be handled. But then you start to see a softer side of things and you really begin to learn about one particular Nahx creature, and he's really quite lovable. I really want to learn more about the Nahx, their "culture", so to speak, their goal for "darting" the humans, and how they came to be... just everything. I am hooked.

I love that this story is set in Western Canada, Alberta to be specific. It's so rare that you read a great book that is set in Canada... or maybe that's just been the types of books I typically read. Although I've never been to Alberta, I thought it was really fascinating to sort of learn about the landscape around there.

The characters were really well put-together. Although the story was told in two perspectives - Eighth's and Raven's - you learn all about Raven's group of friends as well. Even as we are reading about the end of the world as we know it, we see the daily drama that separates certain people from the rest of the group being brought up, and that makes you feel closer to Raven in a way that I may not have otherwise felt.

I loved reading Raven's perspective of the story because I felt I got to hold onto a greater part of the story and see what was going on, how they (Raven and her friends) were managing in the wilderness on their own.
Eighth's perspectives were typically short, but gave valued information nonetheless. I found as the story progressed, we got to read more and more about Eighth and what his thoughts, feelings, and goals were in regards to what is currently happening.

I don't want to give any of the story away by saying any more than I already have, so I will leave it at this: I am extremely happy to have read this novel, and I am definitely going to be keeping an eye out for the next instalment of the Nahx series!

**I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an advance copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review**

Zero Repeat Forever was billed as “The 5th Wave meets Beauty and the Beast”. I’ve never read The 5th Wave but in reading this book I can clearly see a division between two stories. For me, it started off great. The concept of a bunch of teenagers stranded at a summer camp while the world faces apocalypse around them was brilliant. G.S. Prendergast’s writing struck a chord with me as she captured the anxiety and intrigue of the event perfectly. I read an undertone of Lord of the Flies in the early prose and loved the back and forth between characters as they approached the situation from different angles. Should we stay and “shelter in place” or go and try to find help. For the first quarter to third of the book I felt this was a solid four stars and possibly higher. And then…

The second of the stories began to take the lead. As the narrative encroached further and further into Beauty and the Beast territory the story lost all the excitement and verve that had so engrossed me. The narrative slowed way down and most of the promising threads vanished. Some returned near the end but by then it was too little too late.

Aside from the tagline, duality played a major role throughout the book in alternating POV chapters between Raven and Eighth. I enjoyed the present tense choice as I found it lent an immediacy to the story but need to say I found the chapters devoted to Raven were of a higher quality than those of Eighth. This I think had to do with the first person POV choice; as Eighth was confused in the story the writing had to likewise be confusing.

As for Raven, I personally found her to be unlikeable. I’d describe her as petulant and whiny and find these are not the traits you want in a solid protagonist. Nor the traits that make a Beauty and the Beast romance believable.

An interesting concept overall that squandered some great early potential.

WARNING: Don't pick up this book if you're awake in the middle of the night wanting to read yourself to sleep. It will not work (don't ask me how I know). The fighting scenes will keep you wide awake, heart palpitating, willing your brain to read faster to the end. You'll find yourself smiling, laughing, crying, grieving, fuming. You will care surprisingly deeply for the characters. And the twist will have you wishing author G.S. Prendergast will write a sequel soon. Because life is unbearable without August or Raven, zero repeat forever.

This was a very enjoyable story. I haven't read a book so fast in so long, it captured my interest right from the start and never let go. This was a cunning story based in Canada about the aftermath of an alien invasion, from great character's points of view on both the human and alien sides. It was very enjoyable to read from a strong female character dealing with death and hopelessness. I love the use and depth of the aliens sign language, it added so much more to the story than if Eighth could talk. The realizations that all come to at the end were fascinating and Prendergast really fit everything together quite well. I can't wait to continue the series, I'm not done with Raven and Eighth yet.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2099546102

Thanks to Simon & Shuster, G.S, Prendergast and Netgalley for an advance copy of Zero Repeat Forever in exchange for an honest review.
An alien invasion is decimating all of humankind,We learn of the struggle of humankind as the Nahx relentlessly hunt them down to end all humans. Eighth is one of the aliens tasked with this objective but as the story progresses he seems to be struggling with following these orders. Sounds pretty straight forward, right? Not so fast! The story is told from the perspective of it's two main characters. Raven, who at the time of the invasion is at a wilderness survival camp, and Eighth who is a Nahx from the invading alien army.The chapters alternate back and forth between Raven and Eighth until after a couple of chance encounters they finally meet. This is not your typical action filled alien invasion but more of a depiction of a possible friendship between two beings of different worlds and how it changes their emotional awareness of themselves and each other. Don't get me wrong there is still plenty of action to keep things moving even if at times it is slowly.
Throughout the book I kept getting this feeling of how very human Eighth seemed to come across as. His fragmented memories of events and feelings felt like someone waking up from a long sleep and relearning how the world feels and looks. He alludes to the darted humans as being collected and processed by the aliens. In the last chapters of the book we are giving a little taste of what that could really mean. Enough to make me shout in glee "Yes I knew there was something more to his story than being an alien from another civilisation" Needless to say I am dying to find out what happens next!!
Overall this is a beautifully written book with very real characters that you find yourself rallying behind in hopes that they can find a way to survive in this terrifying new world.

Goodreads Synopsis:
He has no voice, or name, only a rank, Eighth. He doesn’t know the details of the mission, only the directives that hum in his mind.
Dart the humans. Leave them where they fall.
His job is to protect his Offside. Let her do the shooting.
Until a human kills her…
Sixteen year-old Raven is at summer camp when the terrifying armored Nahx invade, annihilating entire cities, taking control of the Earth. Isolated in the wilderness, Raven and her friends have only a fragment of instruction from the human resistance.
Shelter in place.
Which seems like good advice at first. Stay put. Await rescue. Raven doesn’t like feeling helpless but what choice does she have?
Then a Nahx kills her boyfriend.
Thrown together in a violent, unfamiliar world, Eighth and Raven should feel only hate and fear. But when Raven is injured, and Eighth deserts his unit, their survival comes to depend on trusting each other…

My Review:
I received an arc of this book from Netgalley after reading the description and deciding to request it. I'm pleasantly surprised with it. Set around Calgary, AB, my hometown and current living area, aliens have invaded. They're quickly taking over the planet and shooting darts into ever human in site. Eighth is empty and emotionless. His free will is dwindling. He has no past, only knows what he feels in the present, and all he can focus on is anger and obedience. Barely conscious of his own life and actions, fighting humans and following orders from his superior, Sixth, a mean girl who his life depends on but who treats him badly. The other main character Raven, or Rave as many of her friends call her, is a human lost among the apocalypse, trying to survive despite what the rest of the world thinks, and she changes everything for Eighth. The story switches between the two characters every chapter, and although I don't usually like viewpoint changes, I liked them a lot in this book. They have barely any internet use, no phones. Barely working satellites. The world is chaos, everyone fighting just to stay alive. Tucker, her boyfriend who has been through a lot with her, is the only thing keeping her going lately. Eighth is defective, or so Sixth likes to remind him. I love that the aliens use sign language to communicate. But Raven loses everything she holds close, and so does Eighth, and even though it's obviously very hard for them to stay alive, they do it. Things might have been different if Raven were a different person, not so full of rage and easier to control, but that just isn't the case, and I'm glad. The characters are just so realistic despite their surroundings, and despite their differences. They developed so much through the book and I was sad to finish it. I'm glad that there will be more to read because I can't even begin to imagine what's next. I absolutely loved every second of this book and it really was emotional at times for me. It's definitely one of my new favourites and you should check it out!
Thanks for reading! Check out this review and more at my blog.
(Radioactivebookreviews.wordpress.com)

"<i>There is no age of majority after an apocalypse.</i>"

The pitch for ZERO REPEAT FOREVER is basically THE FIFTH WAVE meets BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. This is pretty damn accurate so I should be over the moon, right? Wellllll.

<i>His bluster gives me a strong next-to-die vibe, like he's that guy in the movie who has to fly one last mission, or retires the next day. I wish I weren't sitting right across from him, in range of any potential blood splatter or flying organs.</i>

Even though things aren't the same, the setting has changed, our aliens are different, etc, there are a lot, a lot, of similarities between the first book this series opener is being compared to. Except I didn't like it as much. I have conflicting feelings over that other scifi series but it can't be denied that it opened with a bang and kept the reader glued to the pages. This one.. less so.

The differences with Prendergast's offering, though, is diversity. We have a lot of it. And it's excellent. Though I'm starting to think we need to stop praising this because it should just be the damn norm. But sadly we aren't totally there yet. Close though. Anyway, yes, lots of diversity, a MC who is a mixed person of colour, various ethnicities and representation throughout the story and, woop, Canadians.

"<i>What do those signs mean?</i>"
"<b>He just apologized. He does that a lot.</b>"
"<i>How very Canadian.</i>"

And then there's the BEAUTY AND THE BEAST aspect. It didn't show itself until closer to the end of the book but it's definitely a feature. But one I was almost more on board with than the former because it's a realistic element. Except that Raven, our leading lady, made it a bit of a hard sell to see how it would end favourably. I almost wondered if it wouldn't. And it sorta.. didn't? #nospoilers

<i>Maybe I should be comforted by his protection from others of his kind, but there's something horrifying, too, about being the secret consort of a monster.</i>

Where ZERO REPEAT FOREVER really sparkled for me was the communication element. This had some shades of the movie <i>Arrival</i> and I really liked that. It was also darker, a little more realistic than the straight-shooting YA that was THE FIFTH WAVE, and dealt with some tricky emotional issues that could've become a total trope but didn't. And I appreciated that, too. Yet overall there weren't a lot of things that I loved even if some of the tongue in cheek observations said by some of the characters, which <b>almost</b> made this a satire, was pretty fun. But basically the only character I enjoyed was the alien POV. I honestly didn't think I would be interested enough to continue on with the series.

"<i>What kind of creature would try to annihilate an entire species, destroy a civilization, then take benevolent interest in one ordinary girl?</i>"

But.. but. Then the ending happened. And while part of me went 'I knew it was something like that!' another part of me went, 'oh shit, hello, where's book two'. So this was definitely mixed for me and I have no idea if the second book (is this a trilogy? duology? who even knows) will satisfy. But I'll definitely be picking it up.

2.5 "I don't like my own people. I don't like your people. but I like you" stars