Interesting

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Okay, so this book is a bit tricky for me to rate but I decided on 3.5 stars, and I'm going to list what I loved about it and what I didn't love so much to get me to that rating.

First off, the positive. The book's setup was very vivid and detailed, which was amazing because I could literally see the girls transforming in front of my eyes as I read. The book takes place at an all girls' academy that's been plagued by a Tox and has been transforming the girls oddly. Some have an extra spine coming out of them, one of them's hands morphed and webbed, etc. The girls were all wild--can you blame them? They're stranded and goods and food are getting harder and harder to obtain--and the story really does remind me of Lord of the Flies, so that was VERY cool for me. A modern-day take on Lord of the Flies with queer rep. Um, heck yea! That translated wonderfully in this novel and I did enjoy that aspect. And what I also liked was the meaning behind the story and, in part, I enjoyed the reason behind the Tox. So clever, so I got to give props to the author. No spoilers, no worries, just wanted to say that unlike some people, the ending didn't bother me and I enjoyed it. Very well-thought out.

Now, what I didn't like so much, which, in a lot of ways, was purposeful for this novel so I don't really see them as issues with the novel itself. I'm a character driven reader, so I love connecting personally with the characters, getting in their heads, learning all about them and I just didn't connect with any character in particular. Most of them kind of fell flat for me and I was left wanting more, left wanting to like them like everyone else did, but I didn't connect with them at all.

Now, this doesn't say anything about the author's ability to write because the writing was fantastic. It was a good story, I just don't think this was the book for me. I think someone who enjoys thrillers, mysteries, and more atmospheric stories would eat up this novel and adore it.

I will be looking up the author in the future because I want to try to read her future novels because, as I said, she's one fantastic writer.