This is one of those books where I was reading it as a YA librarian to see if it's something the kids would like, rather than reading it because it was something that fits my own tastes very well. That being said, I know of a few of our regulars who I think will quite like it and I plan on passing my copy along to one of them.
The worldbuilding was unique and pretty well-executed. I can be particular about authors needing to strike a balance between "show don't tell" and "okay actually you need to tell me SOMETHING because I'm completely lost", and this generally didn't skew too far in either direction. The book was very vibey and even when the characters strayed into being generic (which mostly only happened with the side characters and not the two leads), it was far from the worst I've ever seen. Especially with YA, where that is a constant issue.
I personally didn't like the romance. I know based on other reviews, a lot of people seemed to, but there was just something very bleh about their dynamic, to me, and it never really clicked. However, like I said, I read this book to see if it was recommendable, and it reminds me of some of the relationships in some of the books that our kids really like, so that's a success.
Overall: not quite perfect for me personally, but I definitely see the appeal and think it's going to be very successful.
The worldbuilding was unique and pretty well-executed. I can be particular about authors needing to strike a balance between "show don't tell" and "okay actually you need to tell me SOMETHING because I'm completely lost", and this generally didn't skew too far in either direction. The book was very vibey and even when the characters strayed into being generic (which mostly only happened with the side characters and not the two leads), it was far from the worst I've ever seen. Especially with YA, where that is a constant issue.
I personally didn't like the romance. I know based on other reviews, a lot of people seemed to, but there was just something very bleh about their dynamic, to me, and it never really clicked. However, like I said, I read this book to see if it was recommendable, and it reminds me of some of the relationships in some of the books that our kids really like, so that's a success.
Overall: not quite perfect for me personally, but I definitely see the appeal and think it's going to be very successful.