Title: Project Firebird
Author: Nick Green
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Age Group: Young Adult
Rating: 5 stars
Purchase : Amazon
Review copy provided by Enchanted Book Promotions in exchange for an honest review.
How do you save the world when it’s already too late?
Don’t ask Leo Lloyd-Jones. Ask him how to steal a car, or why he got excluded from every school in Salford, but don’t come to him for help. This whole thing must be a daft mistake – and if anyone finds out, he’s done for.
Earth is on a deadly collision course that nothing can prevent. The only real hope is Project Firebird, deep inside a blast-proof bunker that shelters the brightest and bravest young people. Leo has got mixed up with the likes of Rhys Carnarvon, the celebrated teenage polar explorer, and other child prodigies chosen to keep the flame of civilisation.
Among them is the streetwise Paige Harris, a girl Leo likes a lot (but not in that way). Paige is desperate to rescue her little sister from London before the catastrophe strikes. But no-one is crazy enough to try that. Almost no-one.
Leo is about to find out why he’s here.
Project Firebird is that one of a kind novel that mixes it all: a reluctant, unexpected hero, a group of friends, a bad guy who isn’t predictable at all, and the impending apocalypse, of course.
Leo Lloyd-Jones isn’t exactly what you’d call a ‘good kid’. He steals cars (although he refuses to call it stealing) to get into illegal street races with his friends, playing tag with cars. But when he stumbles upon a boy and girl who look suspiciously like his brother Brandon and his girlfriend in the middle of the night, and they’re in trouble, Leo goes out of his way to help him – only to find out they’re not Brandon and his girlfriend at all. But while his parents hope that he’ll get some sort of punishment when they call the police to tell them he’s been stealing cars again, the couple actually steps in to help, and before he very well realizes it, Leo is branded as some kind of hero.
He gets a letter inviting him to a two-week trip, and offering him the chance to get a Firebird medal. But once he arrives there,he finds himself surrounded by kids who all did something important. Like Paige, who practically raised her little sister Skye when her Mom couldn’t take care of her. Or like Rhys, who went to the Northpole with his Dad, and was forced to come back alone, to survive all on his own. The list goes on and on, and Leo feels a little like an outsider, but thankfully Rhys helps him fit in.
But when the kids get their medals, a horrible secret is revealed. A deep space comet is on its way to earth, and when it collided, it could very well destroy everything. The kids have been brought there for a reason – they must hide in an underground shelter and wait out the impending apocalypse. They must survive, no matter what it takes. They can’t contact their families though, can’t even say goodbye, and only get the vague promise that their famlies will be taken to underground shelters all over the world.
Leo struggles to come to terms with what’s happening, but he’s not the only one struggling. As he becomes friends with the other kids in the Nest, he learns more about himself than he thought possible. He learns what he’s capable of, and that turns out to be more than he ever expected.
The book features tons of secondary characters, but manages to give each of them a distinct personality. There’s Paige, always worrying about her sister, but who also has a heart of gold. Then there’s Summer, who wanted to win the Olympics and who wants nothing more than to escape, and so on. Leo shines as a main character, flawed but with his heart in the right place, and brave in the face of danger.
The ending was..shocking. I hadn’t expected it at all. Not giving out any spoilers though, but well, you’ll probably be surprised too.
Solid writing, and although the book is quite long (over 400 pages on my eReader), it doesn’t feel long. The pacing is fast, and the reader gets thrown into the action right away. An exceptional read, very enjoyable.
Thank you! Delighted to have you as a reader and really glad you enjoyed it. Any chance you could post a version of this on Amazon and/or Goodreads? But thank you anyway.
Nick