“I have lived that life already, in the mud, in the shadows, in a cell, in a silk dress. I will never submit again. I will never stop fighting.”
3.5 ⭐
My #1 piece of advice if you're going to read this book- forget the hype.
I didn't hate it, but I, sadly, didn't love it either. I really did enjoy it but I feel like everything happened so quickly that I will definitely have to reread it before the 2nd book comes out so I can fully absorb everything that happened.
"The truth is what I make it. I could set this world on fire and call it rain."
The reviews for this book have pretty much been split right down the middle. People either love it or they hate it and the complaints from those who hate it have been largely the same: it's been done before. I have to agree, but it didn't really bother me too much. Nowadays it's hard to write something completely original and I think that this book while it definitely was similar to others, it still was original (that being said, I haven't read Red Rising by Pierce Brown which is the main book this is being compared to).
"You don't see us, and so we are everywhere. And we will rise up, Red as the dawn."
But I will say, this book was a combo of many of the YA fantasy and dystopian books I've read, mainly:
The Selection by Kiera Cass
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi (or The Darkest Minds.. really anything with superhumans)
Throne of Glass by Sarah J, Maas
Just to name a few. This book was essentially a combination of all the best things about those books (and many others) paired with some original elements. I actually kind of enjoyed that though. I thought it made for a really interesting, fast paced plot that kept you guessing.
"I told you to hide your heart once. You should have listened."
I enjoyed the writing style. The world building was pretty well done. I really enjoyed the fact that the plot of this book wasn't really romance driven but more so driven on establishing the world and the characters. However, I had a lot of trouble connecting to the characters. Well, not really characters, just Mare. I felt like she just kind of fell flat. I enjoyed the fact that she was a flawed heroine and thus, very realistic but I just could not really get a 'feel' for her, so to speak. I liked all the other characters though. It's clear that Victoria excels at writing those villains that you 'love to hate.' I just wish that I could've liked Mare more, but I think that's something that can be fixed in the next book.
"Kill them."
Overall, I did really enjoy this and I'm looking forward to the next book! I think most of the issues I had with this one can be fixed in the next one, so I'll definitely be reading it! Thank you for reading 💗