XVI by Julia Karr

XVI by Julia Karr

First in the XVI series

5 stars

In Nina Oberon’s world girls get a XVI tattoo on their wrist on their sixteenth birthday. Most girls can’t wait to be sixteen- legal, but not Nina. She knows that she has no choice in becoming legal, but if her life continues to be normal everything will be okay. When her mother dies secrets start unraveling and Nina starts to question everything. Everything she believed about her life is a lie and that there’s only one person that can help, Sal, who may be the only person with a key to her past. XVI is an amazing book. It’s as simple as that. This book is what I want most dystopians to be like. While I’m sure most people will disagree I think this book is probably one of the best dystopians I’ve read. Karr’s right was entrancing. I felt sucked into Nina’s world the minute I read the first word. XVI had interesting characters and great plots. The world created was realistic and explained well. I wish the book would have been longer though 325 pages just wasn’t enough.


The main female character is Nina. Nina is a strong character, not as strong as some heroines, but still a strong heroine. There were moments when I didn’t really like her, but the moments were rare.


Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: 9

The main male character is Sal. I’m not a big fan of Sal. I don’t like him or hate him. He just doesn’t elicit emotion from me. Maybe it’s too soon in the series for me to like him. Even though he doesn’t make me feel any emotions I do think he is good for Nina. I’m looking forward to where the relationship goes.


Swoon Worthy Scale: 7.5

The Villain- I honestly don’t want to give this villain away. I feel like if I so much as say one little thing about the bad guy I’ll give away the adventure of reading.

Villain Scale: 9

Nina’s friends played such a great role in this novel especially Sandy. Nina’s sister and grandparents also play great roles in the novel and I’m looking forward to where all these characters go in the future.

Character Scale: 8.5

One thing I really liked was there was no love triangle. There could have been one, but Nina said no (Thank God!). Sometimes books don’t need love triangles and I don’t think this series needs one. Hopefully there won’t be one in the future books. This was a fantastic debut and I think Karr has a lot of talent. XVI really is a great book, but don’t take my word for it. Check it out yourself. I promise you won’t be completely disappointed. I look forward to the sequel, which I can’t wait to get my hands on.


Cover Thoughts: I like the cover and how the words XVI look like scissor cuts on the paper. I don’t really like how the cover looks on the computer though. It looks a thousand times better in person.