Nemesis is set in it's own fantastical world made up of five kingdoms: Serbuel in the mountains, technologically advanced Theoria in the desert, icy Hemut, Wachuk, and Pelusia by the ocean. Surprisingly, there isn't a map at the beginning of the book (in my copy at least)! Pretty rare now-a-days that a fantasy book doesn't have it's own map. But that's fine! The author does a rather good job of detailing out important geological information from the get go. 
 Sepora is a runaway princess from Serbuel on a journey to the Baseborn Quarters of Theoria which are said to be filled with freed Serbuellian slaves. She's escaping from her controlling father who has used her as a slave all her life as she's the Last Forger - a group of people that can produce a valuable material known as Spectorium. Her journey is thwarted when she's kidnapped and sold into the King Tarik's harem. 
 Worry not parents; while there is a sex slave market, sexual harassment, and harems within the castle, the book is still safe for younger teenagers. Sepora raises the point at many times how these practices are wrong (and boy, does this little lady know how to raise a storm with her voice), though there seems to be minimalistic effort to destroy the slave market or end the repetitive sexual advances. 
 Who Sepora is as a person is pleasing. She's outspoken and headstrong about what is good in the world. Of course, she's ultra gorgeous, the most adored in every setting instantly, and has been trained to fight since she was a young girl (but can't actually fight for the life of herself hence how she's so easily kidnapped early in the novel). It is irritating that both her and King Tarik are so opposed to traditions considering the type of environments they were raised in (and that NO ONE else is against traditions like them). It just seemed out of place. 
 Overall, Nemesis is an enjoyable book that I burned through in no time at all. 
 The author's writing style is simplistic and at times, archaic. I love old phrasing and styles of talking, but it's not very consistent. 
 Many readers have an issue with the romance because of course the princess falls in love with her kingdom's nemesis. That's half of the entire Young Adult genre, so it's overplayed and simply boring to read now - it's predictable. While the author doesn't have a new twist on that trope, their romance does takes time to build, doesn't turn into a love triangle, and isn't terrible when it does happen either... But there is stupid drama that could be easily avoided if they just had one serious conversation to end petty confusion. 
 There are flying dragons with no arms or legs known as Serpens that only the Serbuellians have. They bond with only their rider and serve a purpose: to defend, attack, or spy. Sepora leaves behind her Defender when she escapes Serbuel, but later trains a spying Seer named Doya. 
 In the river live these mermaid-like creatures called Parani. Legend says that they're beasts that'll eat anyone too close to the river. Their bite is rumored to be poisonous and their skin is nearly impenetrable. Their only natural foe is a Serpen. No one else lives to tell the tale. 
 Unfortunately, the English cover is very unappealing. The girl is supposed to be Sepora painted in silver (relevant to the plot), but gosh, it could have been better done. The Germans have a slightly more attractive cover that I prefer, but honestly, I'm simply over having a person's portrait as a cover. 
 The ending was very rushed, too. The drama I mentioned earlier which could have been avoided is the sole push for the turn of events at the end of the novel. It seems very poorly thought out and lacking in development. It felt like the author had to force the ending to go the way she wanted. Every single character was out of character. The cliff-hanger fell flat, too. Nothing about the last 15% felt genuine. 
 The biggest downfall of this book is that there are many key parts of the narrative missing - things that were hinted at and never again discussed. What's the point of even bringing them up? I personally think it'd be too late to mention at least half of these if the author waits for the second novel, Ally. Here's a list of things I think were missing, but be wary! They could spoil some elements of the book! You have been warned. 
 (view spoiler)[* Why did Sepora never push Tarik to disband the human trade market? 
 * They never returned to Cy to see if that child improved after the injection. 
 * Did they visit the Baseborn Quarters when she recovered from that false sickness? 
 * The thriving existence of the Baseborn Quarters was never fully explained in my opinion. 
 * We never get to hear back from the Parani that she saved even though she sculpted a figurine of her. 
 * We never get to hear back from the Parani again period. 
 * The war general mentioned that the caravan sent to Serbuel was flogged for simply making an appearance?? NO ONE talks about this after that is casually thrown out into the converstation? 
 * Never continued training with the guard that was to take over the Seer serpen. 
 * Did Sepora kick the other prince's ass while sword fighting? What simply happened that night that made her suddenly start liking him (EVEN THOUGH HES THE ONE THAT BOUGHT HER FROM THE SLAVE MARKET) 
 * What did that other prince think after she completely started ignoring him following that night? Talk about radio silence. 
 * Sepora should have met with the King's architect when they started fortifying the castle, but that never happened. 
 * Did Tarik ever find the fresh Spectorium she left in her room as a parting gift? 
 * Yo, and did Rashidi hate all the MANY changes that Sepora and Tarik made while he was away? (hide spoiler)] 
 I'm not sure if I'm interested enough to read the second book. I would out of obligation if it was out right now, but I doubt I'll remember many details come a year. It's just not a unique enough book. While reading, I got hints of The Wrath & the Dawn, but one is much better done than the other. Nemesis isn't a bad novel, but it's also not one that leaves me gripping to know more. 
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 Read an excerpt here. 
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 I received an eARC of Nemesis by Anna Banks from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 
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