I have had this book on my shelf for SO long. I’ve had so many people recommend this book too. I did a buddy read of this with Brittany @ Perfectly Tolerable! I have linked her review too!
I did enjoy this book but it fell a bit short of the hype for me. I really loved the concept and the idea was so fascinating. I did get A LOT of Hunger games vibes and a bit of Harry Potter (the different house talk). It was just like Hunger Games on crack though, way more intense and bloody.
This book is really dark. It starts off that way from the beginning and doesn’t let up. There’s a lot of characters in this book and a lot to keep track of. I really loved so many of the characters but there are some that are so cringe-y.
I loved Sevro and his crazy howler pack! I also liked Mustang and how I had no idea whose side she’s on. I still don’t know for sure. haha. Our main character, Darrow, is in such a tough position. My heart breaks for this man because he has had it ROUGH and I feel like there will be way more heartbreak. His journey throughout this book is just a bunch of tough decisions after the other BUT the ending really knocked off a WHOLE star for me. It felt like all that happened in the last half of the book, and all of the great steps forward, were completely obliterated.
One of the things that kinda through me off my pacing a bit was all the weird names and phrases. I had to think for a minute about what they meant or who they were talking about. There’s a lot of that throughout the whole book.
There are a lot of really great quotes in this book! One that I particularly liked was… *I had to leave some out bc of spoilers* I felt like it was a bit of foreshadowing, maybe?
“And I am beginning to understand why Golds rule. They can do what I cannot. “
I think maybe the climate and my mood might have had a bit of influence on how I felt about this book. It was really dark and intense and there’s a lot of scary things going on in the world right now. Regardless, it was a great story and I will continue on with the series. I’m excited to see where things go from here. Although, I have a feeling that it’s not going to be a happy read considering how the first book ended!
Books Are The New Black 
Great review! I’ve also had this one sitting on my shelf for ages but it is so hyped that I’m worried it won’t live up to the hype for me (and that the names etc. will have me struggling) 🙈 It does sound like an interesting read though and I’m very curious about this ending that you mentioned! Glad to see you will at least be continuing on with the series 🙂
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Yeah, it was sitting on my shelf forever, for the same reason! I’m glad I did a buddy read to just get it read! haha. It was good, the concept is good but yeah… it didn’t live up to the hype for me. 🙂
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Great review! I struggled with the names a bit too, especially the proctors, since sometimes they were referred to by their house and other times they were referred to by name. I know a couple people who said the 2nd book is their favorite in the series, so hopefully we are wrong about the ending leading the next book in the wrong direction!
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Thank you! Yeah, I felt the same but I was being a bit picky. lol.
Oh, that’s good to know!! I think I will add it to my May tbr!! 🙂
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This is one of the casualties of my recent book purge. It had been on my shelf waiting to be read for years, too. 🙂
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haha, byyyeeee Red Rising. It has been on mine too. If I wasn’t trying to get through my owned books, I probably would have had it for much longer.
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