This book review contains no spoilers!
Author: Chelsey Furedi
Series: stand-alone graphic novel
Audience: YA
Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Synopsis
Ren Mittal’s last memory in the year 1996 is getting on a bus to visit his mystery pen pal Georgia. When he wakes up in 2122, he thinks he might be hallucinating…he’s not!
Tech conglomerate Chronotech sponsors a time-travel program to help students in 2122 learn what history was really like…from real-life subjects who’ve been transported into the future…and Ren is one of them.
In 2122, Ren’s life in the 1990s is practically ancient history–and Ren’s not sure how to feel about that. On top of it all, he learns that his memory will be wiped of all things 2122 before he’s sent back to the ’90s. Adding to Ren’s complicated feels, he’s forming a crush on his student guide, Mars.
And when he crosses paths with the absolute last person he expected to see in the future, he has a bigger problem on his hands: What if Chronotech isn’t the benevolent organization they claim to be, and he and his fellow subjects are in great danger?
Writing Style
Project Nought is a graphic novel. That means that the book contains a lot of pictures and not so much text. This makes it a quick read.
Characters
Ren Mittal
Ren is a normal guy who lives in 1996. He suddenly gets transported to the year 2122 when he’s picked as a test subject. Ren is anxious and shy.
Mars
Mars is Ren’s student guide. He’s part of the program that brought Ren to the future.
What I liked the most
I love how being queer is socially accepted in the year 2122. People can openly be who they are. Seeing that made me really happy. I wish that our world was more like that.
Conclusion
Harper 360 YA was kind enough to send me a review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
Project Nought is a graphic novel about the year 2122. This society is queer normative and accepting. There’s plenty of queer rep to be found. Ren was living in the year 1996 but a company called chronotech brought him to future to participate in a program. The program is supposed to teach the students of 2122 what the past was like. But is Chronotech the benevolent organisation that they claim to be? To make things more complicated, Ren is developing feelings for his student guide Mars, knowing that he will be sent back to his own time and have his memories about the future wiped.
I really loved the plot of Project Nought. The idea of time travelling really spoke to me. What would people from the past think of the future if they’re the same age as us right now? So that was a really cool element. I also loved the mystery vibe that the novel has. Does chronotech, the company behind time travelling, have a secret agenda? Are they trying to hide something? The group of friends who are trying to discover the secrets of this company are diverse. There’s m/m romance and two characters use they/them pronouns. There is no emphasis on this. It’s seen as normal in this graphic novel. Queer people can openly be who they are.
I also really love the art style. Only a small part was in colour for me due to the fact that I read an ARC but even the black and white version of this novel is stunning. I definitely want to get the published edition of the book so I can reread this story in colour. I really liked the colour pallet that was used in the first part.
Project Nought is a queer graphic novel with time travelling, m/m romance, mystery and friendship.
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