I am a huge Marie Lu fan, I loved her Legend series and the Warcross books were so incredible. This book was equally as impressive. The story takes place in a post-post-apocalyptic world, where apparently humanity destroyed itself, drove itself into near extinction, and then began to rebuild from the ashes. That alone had me absolutely fascinated. How can a society so advanced crumble so far? I wanted to learn so much more about The Early Ones. I hope there's a lot more background about them in future books because every little detail dropped about them was such a delightful tease. I love world building that has a strong base with it's own historical folklore. Then there were the characters themselves. Talin was such a strong lead, both physically and mentally. She put up with a lot of abuse and maintained her dignity and pride, while also showing the world that she was the most hardcore Striker of them all. Adena and Jeran were the perfect BFF team. Red was interesting, but I'm not sure how I feel about him yet. He was pretty typical of your miracle-hero trope. That ending was brutal and yet also very classic of a Marie Lu novel. I'm definitely invested and excited for the next installment!