The Diabolic (Diabolic, #1)

by S.J. Kincaid

A Diabolic is ruthless. A Diabolic is powerful. A Diabolic has a single task: Kill in order to protect the person you’ve been created for. 

Nemesis is a Diabolic, a humanoid teenager created to protect a galactic senator’s daughter, Sidonia. The two have grown up side by side, but are in no way sisters. Nemesis is expected to give her life for Sidonia, and she would do so gladly. She would also take as many lives as necessary to keep Sidonia safe.

When the power-mad Emperor learns Sidonia’s father is participating in a rebellion, he summons Sidonia to the Galactic court. She is to serve as a hostage. Now, there is only one way for Nemesis to protect Sidonia. She must become her. Nemesis travels to the court disguised as Sidonia – a killing machine masquerading in a world of corrupt politicians and two-faced senators’ children. It’s a nest of vipers with threats on every side, but Nemesis must keep her true abilities a secret or risk everything.

As the Empire begins to fracture and rebellion looms closer, Nemesis learns there is something more to her than just deadly force. She finds a humanity inside her that is true and pure – more so than that of most humans she encounters. Amidst all the danger, action and intrigue, her humanity just might be the thing that saves her life – and the empire.

• ISBN10: 1471148386
• ISBN13: 9781471148385
• Publish Date: 1 November 2016
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 19 March 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster Childrens Books
• Edition: Export
• Format: Paperback (UK Trade)
• Pages: 416
• Language: English

Reviews

“We are all of us but stardust shaped into conscious being.”

I was looking for a light YA sci-fi novel with morally grey characters, hidden identities and political intrigue and The Diabolic certainly delivered. 

The main character, Nemesis, is a Diabolic who was created to protect Sidonia, the senator's daughter. In order to protect Sidonia, Nemesis assumes her identity. Nemesis is an interesting character. She's supposed to be unfeeling and unemotional because she's a humanoid, but the fact that she's starting to feel human emotions says otherwise. Her narrative style is 'robotic', but she's still a relatable character, well as relatable as a badass and deadly humanoid can be.

The relationship between Nemesis and Sidonia is my favourite part of The Diabolic. Sidonia treats Nemesis as her best friend and would do anything for Nemesis's happiness and vice versa. It's so sad that Nemesis has to go through Sidonia's death, twice.

The romance has a large role to play, but it's just alright. Tyrus is also an intriguing character - morally grey, clever, shrewd and calculating. Him and Nemesis are made for each other. 

The Diabolic is a dystopian sci-fi and the world, with its technology, religion and politics is intriguing. The political intrigue and all its twists and turns are engrossing because nothing is as it seems and no one can be trusted. I like how the premise, the concepts and the tropes are executed through the plot.

A minor disappointment is the ending scene. I didn't expect things to be resolved so easily and predictably. I wanted more excitement, more resistance and more blood. However, the ending is still satisfying. 

I don't think The Diabolic is going to be for everyone, but it ticked all the right boxes for me. 

An amazing read!

“I would make my life mean something.”

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

I love books with all this political intrigue. I never know who’s being honest and who is plotting and I still think there may be more plotting and honestly I’m just quite pleased about all things. The Diabolic was a delightful read and really, the only thing I’m upset about is that I didn’t read it sooner.

Okay, so, this is a dystopia. I know most people are sick of dystopias, but this is one of the good ones. The stakes are high, the world is well-built, and the characters are interesting and unpredictable. When many books decided to emulate The Hunger Games, so many of them mimicked the love triangle (often over-exaggerating it) while failing to build a truly fascinating world. I love the setting in The Diabolic. S.J. Kincaid has created a world with politics and religion woven carefully together in such ways as emulate history. Her creation is not so extreme that it’s unbelievable, but not so simple as to be unoriginal. As a science fiction novel, The Diabolic embraces a space setting, but also dabbles in genetic engineering. Yes, there are nods to The Hunger Games (the beauty bots come for mind) but it is it’s own thing, and I enjoyed the immersion.

The plot itself is twisty. A lot of the twists are predictable, but this is one of those stories that there are so many lies and betrayals that you start to second guess your own theories. Like, “So-and-so is probably lying, BUT MAYBE THAT’S JUST WHAT SHE WANTS ME TO THINK.” I love those types of books, so this is such a great fit for me, plot-wise. I see some similarities (like I mentioned) to The Hunger Games and I also feel like there is a similar feel to Red Queen. There’s a clearly defined social class structure and there are royals and rebellions. All a great deal of fun to read.

The characters were less rounded than I like, but I think this is largely because the POV is emotionally flat on purpose… at least in the beginning. As Nemesis evolves, Kincaid brilliantly transitions into more complicated character-building. So I can’t judge the characters too harshly. For example, I believe if Sidonia had been introduced later in the book, she would have felt like a more intricate character because our first impression of her would have been different according to how Nemesis had grown in that time. In fact, I even appreciated the love triangle here because even though I thought it was a weak plot point, the uniqueness in it was interesting and refreshing. And I never thought I’d use “love triangle” and “unique” in the same sentence.

All in all, I liked the writing and I liked the story and I’m definitely here for books two and three. If you’re a fan of dystopias and are looking for a properly decent one, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend The Diabolic. The only thing I would ask any reader be aware of is that there are some violent moments in this book. I didn’t find them particularly gory, but they could be alarming.

[Kim Deister]

The Diabolic The Diabolic is the first in a new series of the same name by author S.J. Kincaid. The book is science fiction in every sense of the world. It takes place in the distant future that in no way resembles are own. The power structure is an Empire and it is based on a sun religion. The Grandoliloqy are the nobility of the empire and control all of the technology, and thus all of the people, within the empire.
 
The theme of religion and science/technology is key to this story, as is the questioning of what it means to be human. Just as in real life, ideologies differ and cause fracturing. Nemesis, a genetically created girl, has one purpose for her existence… to protect her master, Sidonia. Diabolics are stronger than the average humor and bred to feel no love or loyalty to anyone beyond their master. Her mission puts her into the middle of the growing galactic unease in unexpected ways.
 
Prior to reading this, I saw a lot of complaints about different aspects of the story. One was the seemingly senseless brutality. Yes, there is a lot of brutality. But I didn’t find it to be unnecessary. I thought it was very much in keeping with the Diabolic concept. Emotions breed compassion and without it, brutality happens. It was entirely appropriate for the nature of the characters.
 
Another complaint was about Nemesis herself, and her character’s emotional journey. She was genetically enhanced to be something more than human, or at least something different. She was bred to be virtually emotionless. As I mentioned earlier, her character explores what it is to be human. I think many people saw her as a genetically different being than human, whereas I saw her as an enhanced human. Love and compassion and empathy are vital human emotions that, given the opportunity, will rise. This is why I loved her changing nature.
 
Overall:  I really loved this book. When I got it, I thought it was a standalone, but I am happy that it is going to be a trilogy. Can’t wait!

[Stephanie]

Probably like a 4.5? It's like Red Rising, but for the strict YA reader (where Brown's work veers more adult, and far more gruesome) I enjoyed the romance aspects too, but it just got a liiiiittle too schmoopy at the end.

[jesstheaudiobookworm]

Review to come. ♣︎

[tweetybugshouse]

I reviewing this book as part of a tour put on by ARC around the world Tours. I had a read a a sample from barnes and nobles for this and i was drawn in my the whole concept of a diabolic and the way the author played this story out. My response after i finished late last night was "Wow that was a political, emotional roller coaster of awesomeness". You got a little bit of everything in this book dystopian setting, political intrigue, android humans and a taste of romance. Their a ton of plot twists that kept me guessing throughout the whole story i had to keep reading i had to know how it was all going to play out and did not play out how i expected.
I really would like for this to be a series i wrapped up in these characters and want to see what is in store for Nemesis down the road, how does she cope with all the murder and destruction that unfolds in this story? It a awesome must read sci fi i think my favorite of 2016

[Ashley]

It was fantastic!!! 333 Such a wonderful mix of sci-fi and a not-quite-human girl who kicks MAJOR ass. Not the kind that says she kicks ass but doesn't really... this girl ACTUALLY kicks gory gruesome hardcore ass. I loved how she was all muscular and constantly exercising.

Part of me is kind of sad that it's a standalone since I really enjoyed the world and would love to spend more time in it. But at the same time... REFRESHING! It's nice to get the whole story in one fabulous book.