Horn Book Review
In this hefty conclusion to the trilogy, the Zeroes, a diverse team of supernaturally gifted teens, heads to New Orleans to attempt to defeat the Nexus, a machine that channels crowds' power and energy with the aim of dismantling societal norms and causing chaos and anarchy. An epic face-off during Mardi Gras results. The action is high-amp and nonstop; characterization suffers, necessarily, in comparison. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
In the Zeroes trilogy conclusion, the consequences of the teenagers' superpowers greatly expand their reach.When the Zeroesminus Thibault, a white boy who is MIA after surrendering to his anonymizing powers at the end of Swarm (2016)combine their powers to break their leader, Latino Nate, out of prison, they encounter a superpowered teen working for the FBI. Verity, a white girl, pulls truths out of people and is dangerous both because of the secrets she can extract for the authorities as well as for revealing the damaging secrets they keep from themselves. In the face of dangerous revelations and shifts in their dynamics (especially between Nate, changed by incarceration, and Riley, the white girl who led the team in his absence), they must pull together to avoid the feds and get to New Orleans, where others like them are gathering for a last shot at being heroes. Along with the six protagonists, characters from previous novels come up, and even more join the cast; between characters' names and nicknames and the names and nicknames for various powers, it can be a lot for readers to juggle. The diversity is enhanced by a strong love story between two girls, Nigerian Chizara and white Kelsie, and by directly calling out the blind-with-superpowers trope in the case of Riley.The clever evasions, desperate soul-searching, and surprise finale will please fans of the series. (Science fiction. 12-18) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
After breaking Bellweather out of a maximum-security prison and reclaiming elusive group member Anonymous, the Zeroes head for New Orleans, following a rumor that something big (and probably catastrophic) is coming. Once there, they notice the buildup of talent and discover that Piper is using her charismatic power to lead a campaign of revenge against the nontalented. Will they join her cause or save the world instead? Each chapter in this trilogy closer (Zeroes, 2015; Swarm, 2016) is told by the omniscient narrator looking over the shoulder of a different member of this team, allowing the authors to control the pacing and tension and drop in reminders and foreshadowing at strategic moments. The hook in this volume is that familiar team members are learning about the inverse sides of their powers, with the attendant concerns about turning evil. Where the previous book sometimes lagged, this one very nearly catapults readers toward the satisfying end, and they'll be questioning how things will play out right up until that point.--Welch, Cindy Copyright 2018 Booklist
