Review: My fave read of 2013
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 12, 2013
Okay, I'm going to start this review by saying that EVERYONE needs to give this book a go! It hurts to breathe when I think about how much I loved this book. Which surprised the hell out of me considering I wasn't particularly fond of the cover or the blurb and picked this book up purely because its genre fell into the dystopia challenge I'm participating in this year. It just goes to show you should never, EVER judge a book by it's cover!I am still amazed that this book is a debut novel. M.P. Attardo's voice throughout has a sweet, lyrical storytelling narrative to it. She also manages to breathe life into complicated concepts out laid in this book.Intermix Nation tells the story (in a nutshell) of racism. It may be set in a fictional dystopian world, the people may be set with different challenges than what befalls the diverse races here on our earth, but essentially, the story is still the same: racism is wrong, yet it exists. Attardo carefully brooches this subject with great candour and draws the reader in to explore what it's like to be a minority in the world.This story centres around Nazirah Nation, a young intermix girl who is struggling to come to terms with the fact her parents were murdered for marrying outside their individual races. Nazirah is not particularly likeable at the start. She's a spoiled teenanger who is indulgent and completely centred around her own misery. But as the story progresses and her parents murderer, Adamek, jumps teams by joining the rebellion - effectively teaming with Nazirah as well as being constantly around her, Nazirah grows and grows and grows. Her journey is such a fascinating one. Not only must she grow up and smell the coffee, she becomes the poster child of the rebellion, a position that puts her directly in the path of Adamek.While I don't want to give anything away, the story of Nazirah and Adamek is unbelievable. I am so thankful that I got the opportunity to follow their journey.There were moments in this book where I just found myself sitting there; reading and weeping. Attardo has the gift of making you live her story. She makes the nasty horror of the character's situation seem completely real. Yet, rather than wallowing in it, the reader wants more.To be fair, there are moments when you notice that this is a self-published novel. There are a few instances of phrases being repeated close together, formatting errors in relation to chapter starts and the occasional missed or incorrect word. Don't let this be the reason why you turn this book aside though. I only noticed them because I was  purposely looking for criticisms against this book (because, as you know, I really dislike giving an entirely one-sided review) and they in no way truly draw you away from the unique story that is Intermix Nation.Overall, I am giving Intermix Nation by M.P. Attardo 5 out of 5 stars. Honestly, I wish I could give it 6 out of 5 stars. This author is now firmly placed in my `must read' list.