The Nameless by Stuart White | Book Review

The Nameless
Author: Stuart White
Pages: 334
Genre: YA | Dystopian | Fantasy
Publication Date: 30th August 2023

Buy the Book: Amazon

Synopsis

For dystopian fans of THE LAST OF US, THE MAZE RUNNER, and THE HUNGER GAMES.

The YA debut from award-winning author, Stuart White.

IN A NAMELESS WORLD, ONE HERO RISES BY DISCOVERING THEIR IDENTITY.

In a dystopian world dominated by genetic perfection and numbered gene pools, sixteen-year-old E820927, known as Seven, yearns for an identity beyond his assigned number.

To escape a life as a Nameless Exile, and become a citizen of the Realm, he must pass a loyalty test to prove his allegiance to the totalitarian Autokratōr.

With the world’s fate hanging in the balance, Seven’s journey sparks rebellion, hope, and the reclamation of individuality.

But as the truth unfolds, Seven faces a difficult choice between revenge and love.

Review

The Nameless is such a brutal yet brilliant YA dystopian full of twist and turns that can get a bit emotional at times.

I love the premise of not knowing your name until you have completed years of training and then a final test to see which sector you will be stationed in, that’s if you are lucky. However, a handful are very unlucky, fail and then become exiled and therefore remain nameless. I can see why this is similar to divergent but I really liked how much more violent this is. The author really doesn’t shy away from showing us how savage and dire this new world is. This is also a good place to warn you that if blood and gore is not one for you, just take that into consideration before reading as it can get bloody! I’m not usually that squeamish but I even found myself wincing at the brutality of some things. But this just goes to show how inhumane this world can be.

The main character E820927, better known as Seven is a great main character and very believable. It was really refreshing to have a main character that was kind, considerate and strong but not totally invincible. For once as well, I wasn’t shouting at the book for the stupid mistakes the characters were making which really surprised me. Seven really is a character you can root for from beginning to end. I also loved his relationship with Six, you can tell there is a lot of history and years behind their friendship.

Overall, The Nameless is a dark, ruthless dystopian that is definitely worth the read! I read this extremely quickly as I really couldn’t put it down. I’m a big fan of dystopians and especially loved this one because of how ruthless it actually was. I can’r recommend this book enough if you are a dystopian lover!!

About the Author

Stuart is an award-winning author and secondary school teacher. He has a Masters Degree in Creative Writing and founded, and now runs, WriteMentor. In 2020 and 2022 he was placed on the SCWBI Undiscovered Voices longlist and named as an Hononary Mention for his novels ‘Ghosts of Mars’ and ‘Astra FireStar and the Ripples of Time’. In 2023, he won the WriteBlend award for his middle grade debut, Ghosts of Mars.

Stuart was included in The Bookseller’s 2021 list of Rising Stars in the publishing industry.

Buy the Book: Amazon