Love love LOVE.

filled star filled star filled star filled star filled star
bookishjaybird Avatar

By

Wow! This book was genuinely so beautiful. I’m not normally a fan of Dystopian novels, even YA ones, but something about this one just clicked with me. I think it was really what I needed with what’s currently going on in the world.

Marie Lu has built a beautiful and colorful but terrible world that just feels so absolutely real. The characters, the conflict, all of it. One thing I loved was the inclusion of real world trauma into this story that felt like it fit. It didn’t feel shoved in, honestly nothing did in the story, and it added an extra layer of feel to every character. I think the one thing that stood out for me was how Marie Lu writes her male characters! All of her male characters felt like they a guy had emotions. They were soft, they were understanding, caring, and just...actually allowed to have emotions.

I loved Talin, so so much. I think that is the thing that made me love this book SO much, the characters and their relationships. I loved how they interacted, how Marie Lu showed you their relationships without telling you straight out, and I loved the idea of the Striker Shields. Overall, I absolutely loved this book and I will most likely read it over and over again.