Nemesis Book Review 2025/10/26

This book was absolutely shocking to read.

I’m not saying this because it was great, which it was, but the amount of creativity that must have been put into creating this dystopian world is truly spectacular.

I love this book, as it reflects our true personalities of greed, hunger, and ambition. I was curious to find out.

Here’s a brief summary:

The story mainly revolves around 2 teenagers: Min and Noah. Maybe Tack, but he’s not that important.

Min Wilder has a terrifying secret: every 2 years since she was 8, a mysterious man wearing a black suit, sunglasses, and boots tracks her down and kills her on her birthdays (even birthdays). Hours later, she wakes up in a forest clearing, totally unharmed.

Noah Livingston has a similar experience, suffering from terrifying nightmares and deaths on his own birthday.

They both get therapy from Dr. Lowell, who gives them blue pills that can help with their problems. (Lowell says they’re having a traumatic experience, but he is part of the program that leads to Min and Noah’s deaths.)

As their 16th birthday approaches—the date of their next inevitable murder—world events take a drastic turn with news of a giant asteroid, "The Anvil," threatening to wipe out life on Earth. Concurrently, the military suddenly floods their small town. (The Anvil missed Earth.)

Min finds out that her mother’s been keeping secrets from her all these years. Their headmaster, Mr. Myers, promotes himself and refuses promotions to keep a close eye on them. They also sneak into Dr. Lowell’s room and find out that they are 2 of the 4 betas in Project Nemesis.

Then, the entire army randomly shoots civilians that get in their way, one of the consequences was Tack’s dad, shot to death in front of Min, Noah, and Tack. 

Then the entire army gasses the sophomore class, leading to them passing out unconscious, then waking up in their town but with everything restored, like the mountain, town hall, etc.

Ethan and Sarah take charge (they are the remaining 2 betas) because their counselor left them a note, to take charge and hold things down together. Because Tack rebels and continues to disrespect Ethan, Ethan kills Tack with a knife.

Later, they find Tack, unscathed, but shaken. He has experienced things that Min and Noah was suffering all these years.

Unimportant Parts Later

They find a military base, revealing secrets, like that Min, Noah, Ethan, and Sarah have the same birthdays, meaning they were lied to for all their lives and were willingly passed over to the government as lab rats in Project Nemesis. Suddenly, Black Suit (or the Guardian, as he calls himself) appears and tells them that they are all dead. Earth is destroyed, and their minds have been programmed into a computer down below the Earth. 

After they realize, Noah changed mentally, betraying Min (shot her in the back) (she died)  and killing Ethan by shooting him. Ethan’s body magically disappears.

They are drawn together to investigate the conspiracy surrounding their lives, which is somehow tied to Project Nemesis, a secret involving all 64 students in their sophomore class. They uncover a vast web of lies and government testing that is far more sinister than their repeated murders or even the looming asteroid. The novel culminates in a massive twist that re-contextualizes their reality and forces the entire sophomore class into a deadly new phase of the Project.

Yeah,

I loved all the parts of the book, like I was constantly being engulfed in action, then action, then when I least expect it, something goes horribly wrong and people die.

This has to be the best fiction book I’ve ever read.

I highly recommend you to read it!