Title: NAMELESS
Author: Jennifer Jenkins
Pub. Date: October 6, 2015
Publisher: Month9Books
Pages: 336
Formats: Paperback, eBook
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Four clans have been at war for centuries: the Kodiak, the Raven, the Wolf and the Ram. Through brutal war tactics, the Ram have dominated the region, inflicting death and destruction on their neighbors.
Seventeen-year-old Zo is a Wolf and a Healer who volunteers to infiltrate the Ram as a spy on behalf of the allied clans. She offers herself as a Ram slave, joining the people who are called the “nameless.” Hers is a suicide mission – Zo’s despair after losing her parents in a Ram raid has left her seeking both revenge and an end to her own misery. But after her younger sister follows her into Rams Gate, Zo must find a way to survive her dangerous mission and keep her sister safe.
What she doesn’t expect to find is the friendship of a young Ram whose life she saves, the confusing feelings she develops for a Ram soldier, and an underground nameless insurrection. Zo learns that revenge, loyalty and love are more complicated than she ever imagined in the first installment of this two-book series.
Praise For Nameless:
"Nameless pulls readers into the gritty world of this fresh new fantasy. Fierce action, great pacing, and filled with complex characters that will keep any reader's attention, Jenkins has captured it all with this fantastic debut." ~ J.R. Johansson, author of The Night Walkers Series and Cut Me Free
"Jenkins brings edge-of-your-seat adventure to this intriguing new world. I can’t wait to read more!”~ Jessica Day George, NYT Bestselling Author of Dragon Slippers and Silver in The Blood
"Wow....WOW, WOW, WOW! I have no words to describe how much I love this book. Jenkins writes characters who are just so easy to love, and when you love a character it makes the book so much better. And I loved all the characters. Zo, Tess, Joshua and Gryphon. Gryphon is definitely my favorite - but who wouldn't love Gryphon? Of course I do have a soft spot for our heroine, Zo." ~Bri, Blogger @ Once Upon A Twilight
"Nameless destroyed me in the best way possible. The romance was subtle, but written beautifully. The plot was very intriguing and the pacing was spot on. I loved the entire cast of characters, every single one of them added to the story. Trust me when I say you should preorder it, add it to your TBR, request it from your library, do whatever you have to do to get this book in your hands because if you are a YA fantasy fan like me you need this book in your life!" ~Bridget, Blogger @ Dark Faerie Tales
"NAMELESS is epic storytelling at its best. My mind is still reeling from the world that I have just been immersed in and I don't want to leave it. Can I please have the sequel NOW? Because I need to know what happens next but in the meantime I'm just going to re-read it again and again. Is it that good, you may ask? Hell yes!!! And you will think so too. Trust me." Nancy, Blogger @ Tales of A Ravenous Reader
"To say that I love this book is an understatement. It completely blew me away! I am so happy that I took a chance on it. NAMELESS is one book that you can re-read over and over again and it will still feel fresh! I cannot wait for the world to read it and fall under the NAMELESS spell. Because that’s what I feel like I am under, a spell that has me trapped in Zo's world and won’t let me out! I don’t want out!"~Damaris, Blogger @ Good Choice Reading
Top 5 favorite scenes from Nameless and why?
Wow. That’s ridiculously hard to narrow down, but for you, I’ll
try…
#5 Gryphon’s internal struggle after he discovers
Zo is a Wolf.
I think I like this scene/section of the book
because of the moral dilemma Gryphon faces.
Here’s an excerpt:
A melody ran
unchecked through his mind. Tragic and beautiful, the lyrics moved with clouded
understanding of this woman, a girl really, whose eyes were blue wells of mystery
and whose countenance a lonely grave of sadness. It didn’t make any sense, but
somewhere beneath the pretty face of his enemy was a person he wanted to know.
To understand.
Gryphon never realized treason could be so complicated.
#4 The Waiting Room when Zo and Joshua have their
first conversation after she heals him. I’m choosing this one because it is the
first real glimpse into the brutal life of the Ram.
“Do you know where we are?” she asked.
A violent shudder ran through his body. Zo tried to cover him with the scraps of her
blanket but he pushed them away. “I think we’re in the Waiting Room,” he said.
Zo sat back. “Waiting room?”
The boy rolled onto his knees, fighting back a sob as he
struggled to his feet. “A place to wait for death.”
Zo looked around and suddenly understood the stench of decay.
Everyone in the Waiting Room was close enough to death that they couldn’t leave
on their own. Left to rot and die alone. Zo fought the bile rising up her
throat. “Why would they do this to you? You need a clean bed and time to heal.”
“This is a test. I must earn the right to rejoin my people.” He
grunted as he gathered his feet to stand. “Prove my strength.”
“You can’t just walk out of here,” she said, “not with that
wound in your side.” She grabbed his arm, but he shook her off. “At least let
me help you.”
“I have to walk away from my own death.” He took a pained step
into the darkness. “No one can do that for me. Not even you, healer.”
#3 Gryphon talking to Zo about the Gate Master.
(This one is self-explanatory)
“He can’t
touch you now, Zo. I won’t let him.”
Zo stopped walking. She peered at him
from the corner of her eyes. Untrusting. “Why, because I belong to you?”
Gryphon winced. The suggestion made his cheeks warm. He looked
away, grateful for the cover of night. “Despite what you think, I am not a
monster.”
“No.” She picked up her kit from the ground and wiped blood
from the corner of her mouth. “You are a Ram.”
#2 Gabe commiserating with Gryphon discussion about
Zo.
“Why don’t you just say
it?” whispered Gabe.
Gryphon ignored him. They still had another half mile before
they reached the Gate Master’s property.
“You’re in love with her.”
Gryphon snorted and pushed on.
“Don’t be ashamed. I don’t think I could respect you if you
didn’t care for her. She is as mysterious as she is beautiful.”
Gryphon almost laughed at the understatement. She was unearthly
and dangerous. She made him lose touch with all rational thinking. She was both
wonderful and terrible in one delicate package. More intimidating than any man
could ever be on a battlefield.
“It gets worse,” the Wolf continued to whisper. “Just wait
until she’s gone. Wait until you have to go to sleep and wonder if she’s still
alive. If she ever, even for a moment, felt for you the way you feel for her.”
#1 The moment Gryphon realizes Zo is a Wolf—his
sworn enemy.
I like this scene because of the juxtaposition of
having Zo’s beauty disgust him rather than entice. Before this scene, Gryphon
respected Zo even though she was a Nameless because she was the healer who
saved Joshua’s life. Wolves are known for their beauty, and so he initially
despises her for it in this moment of discovery.
The moon turned her skin to milk, casting hard shadows along
her curves as she stepped from the river onto the bank. Her hair hung like a
midnight veil in an uneven line at the middle of her back.
Gryphon caught a small glimpse of her profile as she reached
for her clothes. He leaned closer to the ledge, hypnotized by the moon’s
generosity. This was clearly no Nameless field hand, and Ram women didn’t sing.
[Gryphon captures her when he sees a mark on her
body similar that on a Wolf he just arrested.]
The fog cleared enough for him to see the whites of her almond
eyes. She didn’t beg or even so much as whimper, just stared at him with a
penetrating glare.
“How did you get inside the Gate?” he snarled, unable to
imagine her scaling the wall. He could feel her labored breath. The rhythm of
her heart accelerated.
“Answer!” He forced the blade deeper, breaking the skin.
“I owe you nothing, soldier. Kill me if you must.” Her smooth
face was eerily calm, as if ending her life would save her the trouble.
Gryphon looked up in time to see Joshua charge him with both
arms outstretched. The force was enough to push him off the girl.
“Leave her alone! She didn’t do anything to you!”
Gryphon dropped his blade. His grip stayed locked around the
girl’s wrist as he wrestled Joshua to the ground next to her. A regular string
of quail lined up for the plucking.
“Get off of me!” Joshua
said, kicking and swatting. “And don’t you dare hurt her!”
Gryphon looked between Joshua and the girl in disgust. “She’s a
bloody Wolf, kid. I can’t let her live.”
“It’s Zo! It’s Zo!”
Gryphon sat back and released his hold on Joshua. “Trust me,
this is not her.”
About
Jennifer:
With her degree in History and Secondary Education, Jennifer had every intention of teaching teens to love George Washington and appreciate the finer points of ancient battle stratagem. (Seriously, she’s obsessed with ancient warfare.) However, life had different plans in store when the writing began. As a proud member of Writers Cubed, and a co-founder of the Teen Author Boot Camp, she feels blessed to be able to fulfill both her ambition to work with teens as well as write Young Adult fiction.
Jennifer has three children who are experts at naming her characters, one loving, supportive husband, a dog with little-man syndrome, and three chickens (of whom she is secretly afraid).
Visit her online at jajenkins.com
Giveaway
Details:
1 winner will receive a signed paperback of NAMELESS. US Only.
3 winners will receive a signed NAMELESS Swag including a “Clan
Club” Card and Clan temporary tattoos. US Only.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Check out the Tour Schedule!
Week 1:
10/5/2015- Fangirlish- Interview
10/6/2015- Fiktshun- Interview
10/6/2015- Two Chicks on Books- Guest Post
10/7/2015- Books With Bite- Guest Post
10/8/2015- Bookemoji- Interview
10/8/2015- Magical
Urban Fantasy Reads- Interview
10/9/2015- Once
Upon A Twilight- Guest
Post
Week 2:
10/12/2015- Novel Novice- Interview
10/12/2015- Dark Faerie Tales- Interview
10/13/2015- Good
Choice Reading- Guest
Post
10/14/2015- Tales of A Ravenous Reader- Guest Post
10/14/2015- Chapter
by Chapter- Interview
10/15/2015- Page Turners- Guest Post
10/16/2015- Mundie Moms- Interview
