emery

Thank you so much to Bloomsbury Books, Book Influencers and Samantha Shannon for sending me a copy of this book!

I was deeply invested in every single one of the characters. Even the characters we only got a handful of interactions with intrigued me and made me want to learn more about them and hope they’d show up again. The main characters like Paige, Warden, Liss, Julian, Nick, etc all grabbed my heart almost immediately. I’m so invested in all their storylines and where things will go from here. I feel like we’ve only scratched the surface for everyone. The villain characters also did a good job of making me feel intimidated while also just straight up hating their guts every time they were on the page.

I was pleasantly surprised when there wasn’t much romance at all so far. I somewhat went into it thinking we’d get romance fairly quickly and when that didn’t happen it kind of felt like a breath of fresh air. I’m intrigued to see how things will develop in the next books but for now I’m glad it wasn’t really an element here.

The plot, I think, had a good balance of necessary world building and getting to know the characters and actual plot that we’re following. There were so many moments in this that had me catching myself reading ahead because I was so anxious to get to the end of the scene. It kept me fully invested and interested throughout the entire thing. It was fun to have that anxiety of wondering when or if Paige would take things to far or be caught when she was doing things she shouldn’t.

The setting felt very immersive to me. I loved the element of a hidden city right under the general population’s noses. Everything that was described really made me feel like I was there with Paige and walking through these environments. I was able to really picture them in my head which enhanced the reading experience for me.

I’m a sucker for multiple POVs so I kind of wish we got to see someone else’s POV at some point whether that was Warden, Liss, or even Nick. But I also think only seeing everything through Paige’s eyes really added to the mystery of everything that was going on and coming to realizations at the same time as her I think was a good element of the story. I didn’t mind the pacing, it felt like we had a lot of fast parts that were broken up by slower, more mundane parts which I enjoy. It had a good balance.

The conflicts throughout this book had me very anxious and stressed for Paige and, later on, for other characters as well. The last few chapters of the conflict all coming to a head had me on the edge of my seat and had me fully crying at multiple points. I am extremely eager to continue reading this series to see what happens from here.

Overall, I very strongly enjoyed this book and I can’t wait to read more!