IGIST:New Stars by L.S. Larson (IGIST; 1)

The Synopsis:

In the not-so-distant future when humanity has colonized the solar system, orbiting the moon is a space station called IGIST (Intergalactic Institute of Science and Technology) that embodies a simple ethos: No matter what problems we face an idea can prevail. A young girl named Emi dreams of escaping the plague-ravaged Earth, attending the elite IGIST, and becoming a great scientist. Against all odds, she makes it into space and with a colorful cast of misfits, Martians, and scouts, races against the clock to create an antidote for the deadly amoebic monster, that is the plague.

I received this book from the author via Reedsy for the purpose of this review. All comments and opinions are entirely my own.

Review:

IGIST’s premise alone was enough to grab my attention, but more than just a good story and characters, this book has a one-of-a-kind feature…It has an accompanying AR app. That’s right. You can watch this book come to life with Augmented Reality (like SnapChat filters) and turn your black and white illustrations into moving, colorful images on your phone!

Used from the IGIST website for promotional purpose. No copyright intended.

I’m not going to lie, tech and gadgets are some of my favorite things and if I was rating the book on how well done and cool the app is alone…It would get a solid 5 out of 5 stars before I even opened the book! The graphics are absolutely incredible, the fun “sputniks” that jump out at you while you’re reading, and the holographic features genuinely make this book an immersive novel. There are many more features that I could list here, but my recommendation to you, is just jump on the IGIST bandwagon (they have merch too!)!

As for the book itself, I’ll start off by saying it will receive 4 out of 5 stars. The storyline is certainly interesting to say the very least, and there are plenty of characters to get to know, both good and bad, and it is void of any cursing and sexual content. All things that really pleased me. However, it seems to teeter on the line between middle grade fiction and young adult fiction very often, and what I mean by that is a lot of the story seems a little too young for advanced readers, but the content and vocabulary is incredibly advanced for middle graders. I think IGIST has many things to please both audiences, but there is that chance that some middle graders won’t understand the tech/science scenes at all (some went over my head to be completely honest), and some young adult readers won’t be impressed with the shorter scenes and less descriptive details.

There is some action present and mentions of blood, as well as a character that partakes in gambling and some activity that is considered “illegal” in the world of IGIST.

Overall, IGIST is a universe that is worthy of a fanclub, and believe me when I say that it has so, so much potential! I do plan on following this up-and-rising immersive novel and if you have a science fiction nut in your family, they definitely need to give this experience a shot! (The book is available to read in the free app 😉 )