This book was so much better than I expected! My friend got it for me for Christmas and I didn't have great expectations but my god did it really exceeded my expectations. 

The characters were so loveable (especially Tipp) and the whole prison setting was something I'd never read before and a new experience for me. Also, I was very pleasantly surprised to find the main character wasn't a generic bad-ass, quirky, female like a lot of fantasy books have. So glad she, and the other characters, had little to no plot armor, creating even higher stakes and more engaging action scenes. 

The plot was so unpredictable and written so well. AND THE PLOT TWISTS!? God, this author writes plot twists so well. I'm still not over it and I can't wait to read the rest of the series. 

That ending was so good. I'm so confused about what I just read and am considering re-reading to figure out where the seeds for those twists were planted. I was pleasantly surprised to find out about Jaren (though I did see it coming after a bit), and was even more surprised about who Tilda is to Kiva. I didn't see that coming at all.