4.14 AVERAGE

dark tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
adventurous mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

Good story about having hope when things seem dismal but several parts felt pretty slow and too many “surprise twists” at the end that made the plot less intriguing. 

this was just absolutely boring, DNF @ 50%
adventurous challenging mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I'm shaken??? As many have said before me, the ending goes CRAZY. That being said, I found it a little out of nowhere. This is the epitome of a young adult fantasy, and I mean that in the best way possible. If you are looking for something that itches the strong female lead overcoming unbeatable odds, this is for you.
challenging emotional sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
adventurous medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot

I don't usually like YA novels.  Either the characters are too immature for my liking, or I feel like the writing is simplified for a younger audience.  This book suffers from neither of those aspects. In fact, I often forgot that Kiva was only 17. However, it does seem to echo parts of other stories with the trials, the prison, and the isolation of Kiva from others.

Even though I suspected many of the twists from the beginning, it still was an enjoyable adventure for it all to unfold. Towards the end I wasn't sure how this would become a 3 book series until the reveal of Kiva's mother, but now I am eager to move on to the next book. I am wondering if Kiva and Jaren will find a way to overcome all their secrets without damaging their budding relationship too much. The setting of the prison was described so well that I'm excited to explore the rest of the world and learn more about politics.