Maybe SCAM should have just walked home

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Not really. I spent the most part (of listening to this book) wishing it were over. I really did not connect well with the characters and in fact disliked a lot of them. And I feel that the only point that got me to stay (SCAM and ANON's budding friendship) didn't get much of a resolution or closure or a continuation. It's like all that bonding and then suddenly it gets VERY much overshadowed by what I felt to be unnecessary (and a little bit tacked-on) romantic entanglement(s).

Would you be willing to try another book from the authors? Why or why not?

YES. I thought the story was ok. I just didn't like the characters (for most of the duration of the book). And I've experienced loving one book but hating another book by the same author. I'm thinking that perhaps this book just wasn't my cup of tea.

Have you listened to any of Amber Benson’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I haven't listened to other audiobooks narrated by Amber Benson. But I thought she did a great job with this book. With this book being told from Multiple POVs, I thought her to be very talented. I enjoyed her performance and loved how she made me able tell which character was talking just by how different her voice and accent goes per character

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

It depends on how the potential trailer looks like.

Any additional comments?

To be honest, it took me a long time to actually warm up to the characters. The initial chapters did not make me sympathetic to any of the POV characters at all. And the only reason I continued was because of me stubbornly thinking that I might as well finish this book because I already spent a credit on it and because I'd at least want to finish what I started.

But to be fair, what made the initial chapters pay off is the climax. I found these characters so unlikeable in the first chapters that it actually meant A LOT to me when they actually do something heroic, when they actually put OTHER people before their own needs. That's something that I feel made the last part of the book worth reading.

My favorite part (and what actually helped me a lot to finish listening to this book) was SCAM and ANON's budding friendship. Where they actually do have a sort of heart to heart. And while I initially hated SCAM, I actually came to like him because of his sincerity of his feelings of friendship (BROTP) with ANON.

UNFORTUNATELY, this was overshadowed by what I feel was unnecessary romantic entanglements with the lady zeroes (which just annoyed the heck out of me because I feel that there wasn't enough buildup for it). I honestly felt that the book would have been better off without the romance or at least if the romance was put off for the next book.

I just feel that if they wanted to have romance in the Zeroes series, then it would have been better to use book 1 to build it up better than have it happen so suddenly.

I definitely like how there's a couple of conditions to be met in order for the Zeroes to have optimal use of their powers. Because these powers have limitations and are a double-edged sword. For the most part, these certainly caused the Zeroes themselves trouble. But by being able to at least make the best of situations in order to meet the best use of their powers, it definitely pays off at the climax.

Knowing what I know now, I don't think I would have bought the audiobook. However, I think that this is only because it wasn't my cup of tea. I'm just saying that the book should have focused more on friendships than having a romance tacked on to it

8 people found this helpful

had some “feel-good” moments within

Zeroes is touted as being X-men meets Heroes and it really fits for this story. It follows a group of six seemingly random characters who all have different abilities. They use the typical superhero mantra’s throughout (with great power… type stuff). Follow this group of “zeroes” as they call themselves as they band together to try and work together and figure out the extent their “powers” go.

The narration for this was done by Amber Benson and she was perfect for this role. Though it could have been easily done by numerous narrators (like The Beam) one for each character. Sometimes that can become confusing. At least the authors of this realized that they were dealing with 6+ points of view and they started each chapter with a name so we know who we’re dealing with. Benson really becomes some of these characters and does a great job filling the voids that just reading the book can sometimes leave.

The story was interesting. I haven’t really watched Heroes and I’ve only seen some of the X-men movies, but this does really seem to follow the same type of story. The part that I like most is that you cannot even tell that it was written by three different authors. The fact that they pulled that off is extremely difficult and I’m glad that it worked out the way it did.

The story was very difficult to follow unless you were listening to it pretty intently. No reading while doing chores type of a book. I mostly listened while driving or working out and found myself having to go back because I wasn’t sure who’s part it was (partially because of what I mentioned earlier just having one narrator).

Overall, the story wasn’t exactly what I was hoping it would turn out to be, but it still had some “feel-good” moments within. I grabbed this audiobook just based on the one author (Westerfield), but since reading this, I may be checking into the other two authors too. This is an audiobook I’m glad I checked out, but I won’t be looking for any others (if this is made into a series) in the near future).

Audiobook purchased for review by ABR.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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22 people found this helpful

Loved It!

This is one of the best books I've listened to this year! One of my favorite things is how uncommon the abilities of the Zeroes are. It's a very fresh take on the superhero genre!

1 person found this helpful

kinda of dragged on

I kept wanting the pace of the story to pick up but it never seemed to. there were parts I appreciated but overall I wish it had picked up the pace. The writing is quality.

I love and hate Benson's voicing method

It took me a while longer to listen verses read this book due to the voicing. i love how Benson distinctly voices each narrator, but I disliked some of the voices used. I don't like high pitched females and some were the mental equivalent of nails on a chalkboard.

The book was good. I love Westerfeld's writing and even his collabs like this are fun. Scary fun. It is pleasantly assuring that this story isn't plausible like the Uglies Trilogy.

“Zeroes” was a really good book.

This post contains affiliate links you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, I will receive a small commission from the sale.

I read “Zeroes” by Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan, and Deborah Biancotti back in February and I was trying to find my review for a friend and found out that I didn’t have one. I felt that I need to remedy this and get my thoughts out there for the world to see.

“Zeroes” was a really good book. I didn’t know much about Zeroes. I found out that Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan, and Deborah Biancotti were doing an event at my local bookstore and wanted to go. Of course I had my ARC and bought a copy to get signed for my sister. I believe this was back in October. I found out a little about the book then. I was fairly intrigued to read this story.

One thing I love about the three authors writing this story together is the fact that you really can’t tell who wrote what part. I think that is really great. It looks or is completely seamless. I thought Westerfeld, Lanagan, and Biancotti did a great job writing. The story was very though out and fun to read.

“Every Power Has A Price”

That right there is a very powerful statement. This statement made me so curious. I really wanted to know what would be going on in this novel. This story follows six teenagers. Each of these teenagers has some kind of superpower. Each power is different. Some powers will affect everyone and other powers will only affect one person when they are used. The one thing these teenagers have in common is they were all born in the year 2000. The call themselves the Zeroes. A bit of a spin-off of Heroes. They have many missions to learn about their powers or at least they used too. The split up the previous summer over a big fight.

These kids don’t want to be heroes at all. They just want to be themselves and figure out how these powers work for them. One thing I really loved about these characters is the fact that when one of their own was in trouble, they came to the rescue. Even though there was a huge fight and most of them hadn’t talked at all. There is a large cast of main characters. It was a lot of fun getting to see each perspective.

I really enjoyed this novel a lot. I am looking forward to seeing what happens in book two. This story is just about kids who have superpowers. It is about growing up, becoming your own person, dealing with friendships, taking care of one’s family, and many more deep subjects. I really like how the subjects were tackled because I didn’t feel like I was being educated but I was at the same time. This is definitely a fun book that I think everyone should read.

“AUDIBLE 20 REVIEW SWEEPSTAKES ENTRY”

Great except one thing

Other than the romance sort of hamboned into the story it was a great tale about friendships and human connection.

Awesome Reader! Great Story!

I love how the reader takes on a new voice for each character. Even Ethan's voice inside him. During somber moods, she narrates with sadness in her voice and during exciting ones, she gets you excited too. She makes you feel like you're in the throng of the story; like you're a character yourself solving problems with the Zeros. The story itself is great. I liked how it had a real world vibe and solved a problem that was INCREDIBLY difficult to get out of. There was mystery and humor and just a pinch of romance. The plot was not cliche and you could never guess what was going to happen next. Didn't want to put it down. I listened through this book in about a day and a half because I enjoyed it so much.

Zeroes Got a Straight 10

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. It was a little edgy, maybe a bit too real for 8th graders, but it was a great storyline about 6 kids with mind powers and how they control or do not control these powers within themselves. It was interesting to see this side of the Super Hero tales. I cannot wait to get my hands on the next book about how power can be corrupt, or something like that - I think it is NATE that will be bad or the antagonist in the next tale.

action

I like the book because the book is fun and I like action adventure books so I definitely liked it.