They say don't judge a book by it's cover; Pastel Pink is a perfect example of this. On the outside it's gorgeous, and gives the impression of a story filled with ethereal beauty under a cute pink haze. It's more like a...pale...imitation of the YA genre in the past 10 years, filled with so many common tropes that fail to make up for it's lack of true plot development.

The story's premise is an interesting and intergalactic take on reincarnation in a world burdened by racial divisions and prejudice founded on pigmentation. The introduction paragraphs are gripping and get you hooked into the story of Ruby, a human girl who is tragically murdered and then reincarnated as Harlow, the pale and weak Zeek. I didn't expect to enjoy the explanation for having canonically pink hair, but the story forces you to take it seriously and get comfortable with the idea before leading you on a fractured journey where...not a lot happens.

In true YA fashion, Harlow is a 'special and different' protagonist that receives undue attention from multiple love interests that she is seemingly oblivious to. I love a good and classic trope, but this aspect of the story isn't explored. It just exists and the reader is reminded that the protagonist is considered desirable despite the constant reminders in the text insisting she is nothing but a 'skinny, pale, weak Zeek who has none of the WoMaNlY CuRvEs like she did on earth'.
The plot doesn't develop as much as it clunks from one issue to the next, with each minor issue being solved almost as instantly as it was introduced. There are overarching themes of prejudice and discrimination but just as they are touched on the story moves back to how important Harlow is, and so on. There was so much potential for this story to unfold into something really fun and gripping, but it falls so flat.

I think, though the story wasn't my cup of tea, this would be a great introduction into reading for young teens who are just getting into reading. The story is simple and easy to follow, and if you loved the vibe of twilight look no further. Harlow is your Bella, Jax is your Jacob, Alex is your Edward and Zavier is your Mike Newton. Comfy, familiar and pink.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review of, Pastel Pink, by, Nikki Minty.

I loved how the book started out with excitement, intrigue and an immediate concern for the female character. However, it quickly lost my interest and I was just not impressed with the convoluted color system, multiple POVs and obscurity of the plot.

I feel like there were creative ideas of where the author wanted the story to develop, but they were just not conveyed in a matter that kept my interest.

Her writing style was expressive and the world building could have been more descriptive. Certain things on one planet for instance was confusing. The characters were hunters and didn't live in modern housing, yet had modern conveniences such as hospitals.

The cover art is an absolute masterpiece! It really draws you in and you can easily visualize how the MC looks in her new form on Zadok.

Initially, the cover and title caught my eye. The cover is absolutely gorgeous and it stands out in a crowd. I know they say don't judge a book by it's cover, but if the cover is this pretty, you can't help it.

I enjoyed the story. The writing style was clean and easy to read. It keeps you engaged. There are lots of different story lines, but they don't seem to clash. They flow cohesively and intertwined to keep the story fresh. I look forward to seeing this in the second book.

I will say I was first thrown off when opening the book and seeing the caste system immediately up front with their skin colors listed. I wasn't sure why their skin color mattered at that moment so it didn't settle well with me in that moment. Further reading really threw a red flag for me in terms of this as well. I'm not sure if it was intentional, but those abstract skin colors' descriptions and mentions do tend to remind me specifically of actual races and it left me sort of uncomfortable while reading. For example, some of the descriptions of those with red skin come across as if they were Native American in our world. There is talk of wanting unity for all races in the book, which is good, especially if there are others making this same connection.

At first i gotta say - LOOK AT THAT COVER. just ..LOOK AT IT. It`s so awesome and beautiful!
When i started the book, i was kinda meh? The start was interesting, then i got a little lost for a while but the story and the characters managed to drag me back in. Look forward to the next book!

I found this to be a fun read.

The book is told from three different perspectives: Harlow (Ruby's new identity on Zadok), Ruby (as a spirit), and Zavier (Harlow's best friend). Each perspective is equally important and helps the reader to better understand Zadok and move the story forward. Each perspective is so engaging and important to the story that it's hard to pick a favorite.

An additional thing I liked about the different perspectives is how it helps with world building. The different narratives work together to explain Zadok and its cultures in a way that moves with the story rather than getting stuck and pausing the story to world build. The change in perspectives also allows you to meet different characters on Zadok and learn what makes them tick.

Pastel Pink is the first book in a series. So much of the book explores Zadok's culture, the relationship between the characters, Ruby's former life, and increasing conflict on Zadok. In the end one problem gets resolved, but several more are created as a result. And with this part of the series complete, I'm excited to see what happens next in Ruby Red.

(Note: I did notice some nitpicky things while reading. "Gabs" instead of "grabs". "Deertra" instead of "deetra". An unneeded "a" in a sentence. A missing "I" in another sentence. One word missing an apostrophe and a unneeded apostrophe somewhere else. In one instance the J in Jade's name isn't capitalized.)

spoiler free short review!

Pastel pink was a unique sci-fi book. The cover is stunning as is what’s in store inside the book. We read about Ruby who was murdered on Earth and got reincarnated to Zadok with a new name: Harrlow. Harlow's twin sister Jade on Earth reunites with the man who had killed Ruby/Harrlow and gotten away with the murder. One thing I had loved about this book was the emotions we felt through Harlow from reading. Only to add to the concept of the plot we get more drama which is entertaining. What stood out the most was the amazing impression of the world-building. The author had put much thought into the process of creating it. Moving on to the pacing of the book, the beginning was more a steady interesting pace, moving towards the middle I had felt it getting slower but as we reached the end the pace had picked up and was faster. So pace-wise, it’s a neutral read. What didn’t make me give the extra one star was due to the pacing, a personal preference. Overall this is an interesting read that I think anyone who likes sci-fi and fantasy could enjoy!

Reviewed: 2/3/2021

ARC COPY

Requested, Received, and Reviewed voluntarily (thank you)

The story of Pastel Pink is set on a planet called Zadok, which is divided in four realms. Each realm has their own leader and their own race. The races are different from each other by color, for example the Zeeks are pink/purple whereas the Vallons are orange/red. Harlow is a Pastel, which means she is the lowest in the order of the Zeeks. Harlow her parents and sister however, are Magenta. Harlow works alongside her twin sister Floss as a fruit picker, a job that is usually reserved for Magentas but as Harlow has a Magenta family, the Commanding family made an exception for her. Harlow finds out later this exception was made at a great cost for the Commanding family. One day, Harlow is attacked in the woods by a fuegor and barely makes it out alive. The toxic saliva from the Fuegor makes it possible for Harlow to travel to the Human world as a ghost. Harlow used to be an 18-year old human girl named Ruby with a twin sister Jade. Ruby was killed, so she finds herself watching the lives of the people she once loved as they have moved on about 18 years later. Alex is also a ghost in the Human world, but is also alive on Zadok. We follow Harlow as she struggles with coming to terms with her new life compared to her old life, falling in love, feeling left out and realizing she might be more than just another Pastel.

The cover is very pretty, the art is amazing and gives you an idea of what our main character, Harlow, looks like.
The story was very interesting and compelling, I finished this book in a few days. There is a bit of a love triangle going on (probably even a love square), which is what I didn't like about this book. Harlow seems to have admirers from every corner thrown at her and she doesn't quite know how to handle getting that much attention. She seems to be in love with two of her three admirers, which made me cringe a bit. The love interests are however really interesting to read about, which made up for the cringe.
One thing I really didn't like about this book is the ending, it ends in the middle of a scene. It's a smart move to end a book like that, because now I can't wait to read the next one. But I generally don't like a book ending in the middle of something, especially if I have to wait to continue reading.

All in all, I really liked this book. It has a lot of potential. Given this is Nikki Minty's debut, I am curious to see what more she has to offer in the future.

The cover of this book is very pretty and caught my eye in the crowd.

The thing I really liked about this story was, it’s fast moving. There was never a dull moment, every scene had a meaning behind it, and the writing itself was gorgeous and descriptive.

Harlow’s story was gripping. She is born a lower caste Pastel to a family of middle caste Magentas, which ostracizes her from all three colours, and makes her stand out for all the wrong reasons. As the story continues Harlow learns many secrets about the Commanding family’s scandals and the truth about certain events that happened when she was only a baby. I must say, I am quite the fan of Jax, the Commanding son.

Ruby’s story was gripping also. You could really feel her hatred towards Lucas and her love for her twin sister Jade. I have conflicted feelings about Lucas’ brother Alex, I like him, but by the end of the story I wanted to shake him. Admittedly, I still do like him though, and I’m interested in seeing what happens with his character in the next instalment.

Zavier is an interesting character. I could really feel his love for Harlow and his hatred towards the Purples. He has a bad attitude at times, but he’s also had a very hard life and you can tell he feels bitter about it. He’s still likeable all the same.

I think this is a quality indie book and well worth a read.

I always like to try indie books because sometimes they really surprise me and I find new authors to enjoy. I was looking forward to this one after seeing it as a “read now” on Netgalley. Plus, the cover is just so pretty! I really like the colors and it’s eye-catching.

For the first 18%, I was enjoying what I was reading. The writing was good and there were different plot points that kept me engaged. Nothing really stood out to me until the colors of the characters skins became more of an issue and different distinctions shot up red flags.

I did run these things by others to make sure I wasn’t jumping to conclusions and others saw the same issues I did. As someone mentioned, this could have not been beta read and since the author is from Australia that may also be a reason. I’m not sure but let’s just get into the discussion.

In the second chapter, we are introduced to Harlow who is a Pastel. In her region of the planet there is a construct for the different colors of skin. The top is Purple, middle is Magenta, and Pastel is at the bottom. Each one has a different job/task based on their color. Pastels are seen as weak and useless. Sometimes they are born blind or lose their sight.

Again nothing occurred to me until a Purple, the commander’s son, started talking about how these people shouldn’t be segregated as right now they are separated by the different colors. He wants to change it while others, his mother included, do not want to. This just seemed oddly similar to our own history in America. Another thing that added to this point is when there is a comic and words in illustrations that say, “No Pastels Allowed.”.

There was also a passage that talked about how the men wear their hair and that they would have dreadlocks or cornrows. She also made sure to mention that Zavier, a Pastel, had a tangled mess instead of the other two hairstyles. Both of those hairstyles are usually linked to the black community. Later on in the book, the author describes a character of being, “…tall powerful physique of a female basketball player from the human world–only curvier, sexier.” Before that she mentioned that this character has muscular thighs. If I remember correctly, this character was a Purple so she was at the top.

On this planet there are also other groups of people living, one being the vallon. They are described as having red skin. A few passages about them did remind me of Native Americans. One of those reasonings being the color of their skin and they are also mentioned as riding horses, raiding colonies, and stealing young pastel girls. They also come from the desert and Harlow described them as being jealous of her colony having all the best resources.

There are other passages that made me feel uneasy about the chosen color system for these characters but I don’t want this review to be too long. I will say that at least there was talk about being one race and wanting unity but it still left a bad taste. I’m just not sure what the intentions behind it all were.

As for the rest of the book, I did like the writing. There is violence in this book and it does start off with it. It’s definitely what kept me interested in reading. The two timelines come from Harlow and her as Ruby’s ghost. There is also two point-of-views. All of this can be overwhelming at times as it doesn’t leave too much room for explaining the world-building better as we are thrown from one place to the next.

When it came to the world-building, I was a bit confused. On the planet that Harlow lives there is modern conveniences like a hospital and café but they also do jobs as hunters and gatherers. They even trade for supplies. They also don’t live in modern homes as their dwelling place is in caverns. I’m not really sure exactly how all of this goes together and I just had a really hard time trying to imagine it all in my head.

Another thing about the world-building is that animals, or monsters as I’m not sure, were never described and neither was some of the different words used by the people. One phrase being, “…the deeper the pigment, the bigger the whingers.” This was used to describe those complaining at the café. This could also be seen as another point to the above when it comes to race.

The only other thing I want to mention is the character of Alex. I liked him at the beginning but by the end I hated him. He was literally giving his brother a free pass when it came to murder and wanting to murder other people because of his childhood. It just wasn’t good.

Overall, this started out strong but quickly took a turn that left me feeling uncomfortable with the color system of this book. Although there were a few interesting plot points, I can’t say that I would recommend this book or that I will be continuing on with this series.

This book was spectacularly written! From when I started this book to when I finished it, I almost never put in down. Each time I finished a chapter I keep wanting to read more. Character development, I thought, was really good and how she describes events, emotions, people etc... is very descriptive.
Pastel Pink is like no other fantasy book I have ever read. I highly recommend this book if you enjoy fantasy/sci fi and romance.