I was disappointed. Please let me explain why...

 

Gabe and Jessa are the POV characters for this book, but they are SO different. It's repeated every single chapter. Gabe is a weird loner, Jessa is supercool and popular. They would never ever hang out together. (But truth is they do). Did I mention just HOW different they are?

 

When Gabe's brother Watts goes missing, Gabe is at first relieved. Terrorized by his younger brother, he feels he might now get some attention from his mother (and perhaps other people). And from what I've seen of Watts, I can only agree with Gabe, for Watts turns out to be a really annoying, uhm, person. I thought this would be interesting, as Gabe is conflicted between willing to clear his name and not wanting his brother back. Unfortunately, it never went deeper or more interesting than 'I hate him and secretly hope he never returns'. This was even accompanied by a happy dance. Gabe's also some kind of human lie detector (but himself incapable of lying). I don't know a thing about lie detectors, but I expect that they can't detect things that are factly untrue but the person saying it is unaware of it being a lie. Then how is history class the perfect way to detect lie detectors?

 

Jessa on the other hands has her own - very important - reasons to want Watts back. She pretends to be your standard popular girly girl to mask her super human strength. What a strategy. She's constantly annoyed/accompanied by her even girlier friends who's only problem seems to be who gets to fantasize over the random hot Spanish barrista. As you can see, those are the real problems in life.

 

Finding Watts turns out not to be the hardest part, keeping him (and themselves) save is much harder. The eugenicists' new human order have have not only ditched Gabe's speciality (who needs to know the truth), they have also decide to Ex-ter-mi-nate him. Such a bad luck, for a boy who's already such a weird, friendless loner.

 

The story did not impress. I was annoyed by the constant repeating of things that were apparently important that I'd got the first time (or the second) and that didn't need constant repeating. The finding was made to easy with their 'superpowers'. The ending was okay, though it was an easy way to solve some of the other plotlines.

 

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I received a review copy of this book for my stop on the blog tour at Donnie Darko Girl. 

Outshine was such a fun and entertaining story to read with likable characters, a solid plot, and excellent pacing. I love reading about characters with superhuman powers, so when I found out that's what this story was about, I knew I had to read it! There was even a mystery element with Watts's disappearance, what happened with Gabe and Watts's dad years ago, what happened with Jessa's parents years ago, and how and why they came to have their abilities. 

Gabe is a walking lie detector. Every time he hears a lie or even speaks a lie himself, he gets terrible headaches. There's always a bottle of ibuprofen in his pocket. History class is the worst for him - even just the wrong dates can send him into a tailspin. I really felt for him because he has to constantly deal with the negative effects of his ability not to mention the fact that his mom gives all of her attention to his younger brother, Watts. 

Jessa has superhuman strength and healing powers. She decided when she was younger to hide her abilities by becoming the social queen bee of the school, which is a decision I thoroughly enjoyed - not only did it accomplish her mission but also brings a lot of comic relief to the story. I also liked her character quite a bit. She's feisty and strong. No matter what, she wouldn't give up and faced situations she found herself in head on. You gotta admire that in a female character; I know I do! 

Gabe's brother, Watts (short for Watson), has gone missing, and Jessa talks Gabe into teaming up with her to find out what's happened to him. She's convinced Watts didn't run away, and when Gabe comes to the same conclusion, he reluctantly starts working with her to find him. Though it would take a lot for them to admit this, they made a great team. A hilarious and highly effective team. 

Outshine was so easy to get into, and I didn't want it to end. In no time at all I found myself drawn into the story and flew through it in one sitting! I loved the sci-fi aspect as well as the layers of mystery that are uncovered by Jessa and Gabe. I loved reading about superhuman abilities. And most of all, I loved these characters. Outshine is a novel I can definitely see myself reading all over again.

When I was emailed about reviewing Outshine by Nola Decker* as part of the blog tour I was immediately excited, this is a YA Science Fiction novel which is a nice break from the usual dystopian and it just sounded great;


When agoraphobic Gabe and his outgoing nemesis Jessa go on a moonlit road trip to locate Gabe's missing brother, the two teens discover they are both hiding unnatural abilities: Gabe is a living lie detector and Jessa is a kick-ass powerhouse pretending to be a delicate diva.
Gabe's sole reason for searching for Watts, his overbearing younger brother, is to clear his own name: he's been framed for Watts' alleged murder. Jessa is after Watts because she is, well, after him.
They find him with Deacon, the twisted eugenicist responsible for their unusual powers. He encourages them to stay and join his "Family" where they'll be able to live openly as the genetically-modified freaks that they are. When Jessa and Gabe uncover the truth about Deacon's past--and what he wants for the future--they band together to stop him. Watts, however, might have other plans...


This book starts fast, switching between Gabe and Jessa quickly as you're punched straight into the story and the lives of the characters. Neither characters were relatable to me personally but surprisingly I liked them both, they weren't maybe the best people but they had taken two very different- and understandable- paths to dealing with similar problems. With the science-fiction aspect, especially Gabe's 'power' I realised that this book is everything I wanted Drawn by Cecilia Gray (currently hanging out on my paused shelf with Insurgent and Shatter Me) to be and more.

It was a quick read, and got me in a real reading mood! I feel I devoured this book with it's interesting plot, fast pace and action packed prose. There wasn't a single boring moment and even the romance aspect of it was well thought out. Yes, there was a bit of a love triangle but it went beyond the usual teenage girl indecision and into the science fiction aspect. I loved it anyway and for once I wasn't scolding the character on the right choice, but sympathising on the situation she was in. All in all I really enjoyed this book, I wasn't quite as hooked as I've been with other books but it was seriously good, especially for self-published. I need the sequel now!