Talin is an amazing character, fit like the minorities of our modern world and faces the same discrimination in Mara that we do. The first few chapters readers get to experience the bond between Talin and her shield which immediately then turns to grief and sorrow when her shield is killed. The devastation and shame she feels when she loses her other half and how other pity her because she wasn't supposed to be a striker in the first place but was only allowed to be one because her shield felt sorry for her, as others told her. However, she does have friends who care for her and follow her along her journey. The appearance of the Ferderation prisoner starts a new plot for Talin just as she thought she has lost it all. I couldn't even stop reading the first look as it was amazingly well written although the plot reminds a bit of the anime "Attak on Titan" where the Strikers are the Survey corps with better weapons and the ghosts as the monstrous Titans. Marie Lu is an amazing author full of imagination coming up with so many amazing stories of dystopian fiction!