"Pastel Pink" is a very interesting start to a new sci-fi series that definitely sounds very promising! I enjoyed this book quite a lot and thought it was fun to read.

The pace was great since it was moving fast and kept me turning the pages with anticipation to see what would happen next!

The plot was very intriguing following a cast of characters from different races in a sci-fi society filled with descrimination, pretty much like our society today, but also the human world where our protagonist, Harlow, returned in her sleep as the ghost of her past human self. Therefore we do have different settings and points of view changing quite often, which made it even more interesting for me!

Loved how action-packed the end was and how it left us at quite the cliffhanger, making me really excited to pick up the second book in the series, "Ruby Red" soon!

However, I had a couple of problems with the book that I'd like to mention! First of all, it seemed really bad to me how in the story a lot of white characters had hairstyles like dreadlocks and cornrows, which are linked to the black community! Also, schizophrenia is attributed to a character and even though I'm no expert to the matter I wasn't at all sure about whether the state of the person represented schizophrenia in a correct way. Lastly, some comments the protagonist made about the boys around her got cheesy and annoyed me a bit!

I’m going to be completely honest with this review and say that my not so great reading experience was partially my own fault. It took me so long to get through this book, I do work full-time so that was a factor in this, however, it felt like no matter how long I sat and read this book I made no progress.

Now don’t get me wrong this story has a lot of potential and the whole world of Zadok sounds really interesting, but it really missed the mark for me. Everything felt extremely dragged out and this could have been at least half the length. Personally, I think Pastel Pink would work well as a prequel novel as honestly there wasn’t too much happening.

It set up the world well and you really begin to understand how society works on Zadok, but there wasn’t really any action. The most intense scenes happened at the very start and very end of the book, everything else was pretty much just filler.

I liked Harlow enough to potentially read the next instalment of this series and I think she has a lot of room to develop. I especially enjoyed the scenes where she was back on Earth as her former self Ruby. Not quite sure how these worlds correlate yet and what the purpose of using them both is, but I’m sure more explanation will come from book two.

I always talk about multiple perspectives and how I am coming to enjoy them more. Unfortunately, that was not the case here. Every so often you would get a chapter from Zavier’s perspective and these did not always feel necessary. The majority of the time his chapters focussed on him pining for Harlow and being jealous of how close she becomes with Jax. These made the book a little disjointed for me, however, this could also be down to how long it took me to read.

The colour system was very creative and I thought it showed a pretty good representation of how can perceive people of different skin tones and races. Although I wasn’t too sure about how the white Zeek race would often have cornrows and dreadlocks.

Writing-wise this was a very clear and simple narrative that was extremely easy to follow. Which in hindsight is very impressive as I would go days without reading but would still understand what was happening.

I really do wish this had a lot more thought out content compared to the amount of filler. It was important that the reader got a good understanding of how Zadok works however a lot of things were repeated that didn’t need to be.

The romance was very weird and that is the only word I can think of to describe it. I don’t want to spoil anything for those who plan to read this, however, it comes out of nowhere and is basically a classic case of insta-love. Very strange and I didn’t enjoy it at all.

If you’re not a fan of overly used YA tropes such as insta-love with a dash of multiple suitors all vying for the attention of an oblivious girl or the oh so classic chosen one even though the character isn’t actually that special, then you will not like this book. Trust me.

Overall I will be giving this book a generous 2.5/5 as although I did enjoy aspects I do think there are some areas that need a lot more fine-tuning. Pastel Pink had tonnes of potential that I am hoping will carry through to the next instalment, making book two a better well-rounded read.

Thank you to BooksGoSocial for providing an eARC of “Pastel Pink” by Nikki Minty through NetGalley for me to read and give an honest review!

Real rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

From the start, “Pastel Pink” is an immensely imagined book with incredible world-building when it comes to the planet of Zadok, where Harlow, previously known as Ruby on Earth, finds herself in the midst of a color revolution 18 years after being murdered by Lucas on Earth. This is an incredible sci-fi/fantasy combination and had me wanting to know what would happen next as we continually learn more about the Zeek race and their caste color system. There is a great cast of characters that Harlow/Ruby interacts with including the Purple warrior Jax, her Magenta twin Floss, and her fellow Pastel friend Zavier. The mix of having Harlow’s POV on Zadok with her Ruby ghost-like POV back on Earth as she follows her Earth twin sister, Jade, and her growing relationship with Lucas years after he murdered Ruby is incredibly well done and really adds suspense to the narrative. I am looking forward to the next book in the series!

Pastel pink by Nikki Minty.
I really really enjoyed this book. I loved the cover. It was pretty. That's what drew me to this book. That and the blurb. This was a different and refreshing read for me. I liked Harlow Jaxon and Zavier. Didn't like Floss. Especially how she was with Harlow. Looking forward to the next book. 5*.

I am so so SOOO grateful to receive this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review because DAMN what an interesting and creative ride. This book grabbed me from the thrilling prologue and held me until the very last page. I need the second book of the series ASAP! I just loved everything single thing about this book and I was so addicted to it that I couldn’t put it down until the very end. From the multiple and well established book worlds to the amazing and loveable characters, this book was a hit for me and I cannot wait to continue the series!

Usually two dueling book worlds can cause too much confusion or not allow enough detail to be conveyed to the reader, but this author is a winner because she gave equal time to both and gave just enough details to root out any confusion or chaos for the reader. I mean not only did she do it well, but I LOVED the book worlds equally. Whenever we were pulled out of one, I was sad to be pulled out, but was instantly satisfied to be back in the other. I mean these dueling book worlds allow this book to have something for everyone and I am so on board! We have revenge and murder in one world and a dystopian forbidden love in another... this book is so good.

So not only did I love these book worlds, I also was obsessed with these characters! There were so many amazing and unique characters that it just made the book so much more lovable. I just want more time with these amazing characters and thought the book was over way too soon! Harlow is such a strong chick and has been through a lot of crap. However, instead of dwelling on it and feeling sorry for herself, she is a badass and takes names. Not only was the main character amazing, there are so many sexy love interests to get lost in. I mean how do I choose? They were all so yummy and I can’t wait for more of them.

The book was told through multiple perspectives, which is my favorite, but I just wish there were more perspectives. I wish I could see in Flow’s head, Jax’s and Alex’s. I just want to know what they're thinking about everything and I really hope I will get more in the next book. I also have so many questions about the dynamics of the book worlds and how they work. I just want answers and I need them as soon as possible! UGH THE IMPATIENCE IS REAL!

Overall this was a fantastic fantasy and I cannot wait for the next book!

3.5/5

Thank you to NetGalley, BooksGoSocial, and Nikki Minty for the opportunity to read Pastel Pink in exchange for an honest review.

Pastel Pink is the first book in the Zadok series (named after the planet of which about half of the book takes place).

Before I talk about positives and negatives, I will give a brief summary of the novel.

The novel has perspective chapters from a few different characters, but Harlow and Harlow as Ruby are the main two. Harlow is a Pastel Pink, the lowest, weakest of the Winter region colors, Magenta being second level, and Purple being first. Colors depict class level and types of jobs they can have. There is great discrimination, especially when it comes to the Pastels. To the Magentas and Purples, Pastels are really no better than slaves. There are four other color/race groups on the planet of Zadok. Harlow is a Pastel, but she was born to a Magenta family, which caused quite a ruckus. Jax, the son of the Commanding Purple family, is trying to go against the grain and eliminate the discrimination amongst the colors, which he needs Harlow for and certainly causes quite a stir.

Harlow as Ruby occurs only when Harlow is asleep, and does not happen every time she sleeps. She revisits a previous life on Earth where she was a human named Ruby who was killed by a man named Lucas. Killer still at large, Ruby hovers around her twin sister hoping one day she will find justice for her murder. Alex was also killed killed by Lucas, but they are twins and Alex defends his brother to no end, even though he was murdered by him. Ghost Alex and ghost Ruby find solace in each other, and when they learn they are both from Zadok, they might even venture to meet.

Positives: I very much enjoyed the world of Zadok. It was quite creative and very interesting how the color system was set up. I liked the physical descriptions of the colors and how they differ, as well as the set up for the series to explore the other races of the planet. I found the book to be very easy to read as well.

Negatives: I know this is an ARC, but the number of comma splices and other punctuation/spelling errors was immensely distracting. (Yes, I know Australian English is written differently; I am not talking about those). Even an ARC should have a lot less than this. It just made me think that the overall writing quality wasn't very strong, even though the story was mostly interesting. I also found the Earth plot line to be decent at best, but not quite what I want when I am given a brilliant fantasy world like Zadok. I want more of that and the issues there as opposed to the Earth visits/murder plot. Remove the Earth aspect or cut it down at least, and give us more Zadok!

Overall I did enjoy the novel. Like I said, it was easy to read, which is always nice, and the world development of Zadok is very interesting, maybe even interesting enough to read the second book, Ruby Red, though I have night fully decided on this pursuit just yet...

Pastel Pink is a book about a girl who got reincarnated on a different planet, but remembers her life On Earth.

The world building is good, and I enjoyed this new planet Zadok. The characters are interesting and it mirrors the good and the bad we find in our world. It's a really interesting read.

The only drawback for me would be the grammatical errors in the book, though there aren't too many errors.

I definitely recommend this to fantasy readers.

My rating is based on the 28% of this book I was able to finish. This wasn't bad, but I completely overestimated the appeal to me as a reader. I hope other people enjoy it more. Ful thoughts to come.

I adored this book - it had everything you could truly need from a YA sci-fi/fantasy novel. And isn’t the cover just stunning? Pastel pink follows Harlow, a reincarnated Pastel Zeek living on Zadok, who was previously murdered on Earth as Ruby, a human. It follows her life in both of these locations - and how they intertwine. The book starts straight into the action - with a graphic depiction of Ruby's murder in the human world, which hooks you into the story straight away.
First of all, I loved the reincarnation aspect, I'm fairly sure I've never read a book which has quite done it justice? But this certainly did! It was so easy to tell between Harlow's chapters and Ruby's chapters, as they had different storylines and 'personalities' (even though it's technically the same person).
One of my favourite aspects was the world building; Nikki Minty did a fantastic job at developing a complex new world. Zadok is a planet which has 4 unique 'realms' based on the seasons, with different races and kingdoms. Each of these, especially the one based on Winter, where Harlow lives, are based on a hierarchical caste systems by skin colour, which dictates their 'place' in society (i.e., where they can work and who they can form relationships with). I appreciated this aspect as it seemed to reflect, and be a critique of racism in society (which is an especially relevant topic of discussion in current society). However, I do wish some of the other kingdoms were explored a little bit more, but I can see why they were not, as the book would have potentially been too long (hopefully the next books do so!)
The only small issue I had was with some of the side characters and love interests, I found some of them to just be annoying and unnecessary - and to be honest it was quite hard to figure out whether they were supposed to be unlikeable? However, some of the other characters, such as Jax, who I loved, definitely made up for this - I would protect this man with all of my being.
The ending is painful. It ends on a true cliffhanger, right after an extremely dramatic event, which just left me needing the second book in the series now (which is released in July btw, woohoo! I'll be keeping my eye out for that).
I would definitely recommend this book to any sci-fi and fantasy fans. I think fans of Marissa Meyer and the Lunar Chronicles would especially love this book (and series!).

Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for this arc.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I don't feel it's often that I start a review with that sentence. It was one of the few times that I didn't get confused by the POV's that were in here and they are clearly labelled. 

This brings me on nicely to Harlow/Ruby. I was unsure how Nikki Minty was going to bring what I thought would be two different personalities across but it was very well done. I like that you know when Harlow is Harlow and when Harlow is Ruby and I didn't really need the POV's labelling to know this. I relished how she made this one person have two lives and how it all ties in.

Some of the side characters were a little annoying, such as Zavier who was the typical "friend-zoned" butt hurt boy who deserves more because he's been Harlow's friend for years. No boy deserves your romantic love because they're your only friend. This type of character just grates on me but again he's well written for this to actually annoy me to this level. 

Floss and Jade were strange in their complete contrast to each other and I am still unsure what to make of this. 

I thought the world-building was done well, especially when we take the whole colour conflict. When Ruby Red comes out later this year I would like to get to know more about the colours and the differences between them. The only thing that got a little tedious was Harlow translating the things Zeeks have to human comparison. Such as the "cafe" Zavier works at by calling it a coffee shop. I got that without the explanation. 

The ending caught me off guard and because of that, I will be waiting not so patiently for Ruby Red to be released.

The cover of this book pulled me in like no other! It's unique and gorgeous!

As for the book itself, I was not engaged as much as I wish I was. The writing was fine, but the beginning was extremely slow for me. After that point, it was hard for me to engage. The back half was much faster paced! Although I'm not sure if I'll read the next book in the series, I would still recommend this one. Very unique world and the main character is great!

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for letting me read and review this awesome book 💜💜

Seriously hate how work and life got in the way of reading this book so much because I never wanted to put it down!

I went into this having no clue how I’d feel about it but so so glad I finished loving it!
Harlow/Ruby was a really nice MC. I loved the whole idea of Ruby in her next life as Harlow on a completely different planet. The whole world building was amazing, the different species (I guess that’s what you’d call it 😂) on the planet Zadok was so cool, and all the details of them and what they look like/ act like and even speak like, I thought that was awesome.

There was definitely some toxic characters in this book, but there was also some amazing characters 💜

The ending was quite surprising, I thought it was going to go a certain way but I was wrong! This was definitely a fun (sometimes worrying and stressful) read!
I’m definitely excited for the next book! 💜

From the moment I picked this up to read I could barely put it down. I absolutely loved it. It wasn’t your ordinary story and had so many twists and turns and storylines so well connected that I just had to know what happened next. I’m so sad that I’ve finished it and have to wait for the next book to be ready to read. I need to know what happens next! 10/10 would read again and probably will read again soon.

I received an e-arc of this from netgalley for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

First off, that cover is stunning!
Secondly, I love to try out Indie authors and hopefully find some I like! Sadly this book just wasn't for me.

I dnf'd this book at around the 35% mark. I could get into the story, the change of POV confused me and brought me out of the story a lot. While the plot was intriguing, I couldn't connect with any of the characters and it just didn't hold my attention.

I think this would be great for people who like a tell more than show writing approach!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc.

I’m not sure what my final thoughts for this book are. There are A LOT of problematic relationships in this book. I know that’s the point for some, but people are seriously messed up in the book. Overall, I did enjoy the story though. I like the flash backs and links to Earth. I usually can’t stand “real world” stuff in books, but this wasn’t too bad. The Zadoc world is really interesting. Everyone is kind of horrible to each other, as I said. The color systems are rough but make for a very interesting read. The powers and weaknesses of the colors are unique, especially with the different races. I’m really looking forward to the next book. I need to know what happens. Alex’s irrational behavior kind of annoyed me at the end, but there were major cliff hangers.!

It took me a while to really get into the book, even though I loved Zadok. The trips to earth felt to long, and many of the trips didn't seem needed. I also think having Zavier POV broke the story up more, and it started to seem unconnected. Zadok was set up so well, and I love that idea of the colors but I had a hard time connecting with it overall.

This book actually turned out a lot different than I expected it to. I loved the cover, which is why I initially requested an ARC from NetGalley. Are there books with similar stories out there? Absolutely. Any “dystopian, post-earth” world has only so many options for civilization.

The writing style was simple but kept you coming back for more, which is a perfect YA story in my opinion. Something I don’t want to put down and can read fairly quickly.

The idea of having Harlow able to return as a ghost Ruby was a twist that made the book more than just another civilization segregated into a colour system, where the weak only become the weaker.

Unfortunately, I like my books filled with drama, so for me the ending was a bit lack lustre. But again that’s just my opinion. I look forward to continuing reading on this journey with Harlow and see what trouble follows her and Ruby next.

The cover of this book is what really drew me in, at first. It’s gorgeous. This story was heavy fantasy. Created races, worlds, lands, etc. I’m always super impressed with an author who has the imagination to come up with things like that. However, for me, all of the upfront information you need at the beginning of the story in order to differentiate between character races and their origins, was just a bit overwhelming for me. It made it hard to enjoy because I felt I just could t keep it straight. If you are used to these kinds of literary elements and are very into the fantasy genre, then I definitely recommend this book!

This one hurts.. because it had the potential to be SO GOOD! There were so many things that I loved. It is my own personal opinion that the dual timeline stories should have been written for 2 completely separate and unrelated novels.

What I loved 💕: ZADOK ZADOK ZADOK!

- The seasonal capitals
- A world of ice!❄️
- The races/colours
- The powers/abilities
- The colour of eyes/hair directly reflects status and strength
- The segregation (emotional response)
- Harlow, Zavier, Jax
- That cover

What I hated 💔: EARTH.

- The constant references to Earth and explaining how Zadok is different. (I'm in a brand new world, how exciting! I want to see this beautiful world, I don't want to constantly hear - "Earth is like this, but Zadok is like this." I also don't need to be told things like "bean brew = coffee".
- Anything and everything in the Earth timeline.
- Body shaming petite non-curvy women.
- The romance

The thing I probably found the most disappointing was that, the first thing we learn about is all these intriguing races, their homes and their amazing powers.. but we literally see NONE OF IT. Literally. In the entire book. We get a tiny glimpse of a Zeek's ice power and that's it.

Had this book solely focused on Zadok, with some more fleshed out characters, politics and a solid story without jumping around from one drama to the next - it could have been so amazing.

The feels - the disappointment - is real.

Pastel Pink was a bit of a let down. I was really intrigued by the plot, but the author’s writing style really threw me off. This was really lacking in plot and I kept wanting more only to be disappointed. In the end, I wanted nothing more to do with this so I sped through the ending. Very disappointing.