an enjoyable hunger games-inspired dystopian novel with a sprinkling of romance.

so fun fact this is actually my first ava reid novel in all my years of reading. i've seen her acclaim for years now, but i've never been able to properly dig into one of her books. however, i love the hunger games, so i was eager to request and read this.

this follows inesa, a young girl, in a dystopian united states ruled by a megacorporation named caerus. she and her family are struggling to get by, and her mom subsequently puts her up for a gauntlet (a livestreamed hunt) in order to avoid paying off her debt. inesa and her brother luka try to escape and survive while being hunted by an trained assassin (an angel) named melinoe. however, melinoe and inesa slowly turn from enemies to allies to something more while staving off caerus.

the worldbuilding is great! you get enought information to be placed in this dangerous and toxic world. from lower esopus, with its flooded streets and dingy houses, to melinoe's penthouse and the glittery city, to the mystical drowned county and the dominion of old england. the world comes to life. the entire first like 20% of the book was worldbuilding and individual character work which did make it a bit hard to get through but the book went fast asl after that.

i enjoyed the character work in this book. obviously with dual povs you run the risk of making the two characters sound/feel the same, but inesa and melinoe were definitely very distinct. i also think azrael and luka are good characters; especially azrael. he occupies this space of being melinoe's father figure and her master and her puppeteer all at once, and that sets up a toxic dynamic with melinoe. when melinoe and inesa are chasing and hunting each other, that is where the book shines. i love the action and the tenseness as inesa races to escape and melinoe races to capture. loved loved loved the parallels of inesa and melinoe. their relationships with death are so different; inesa treats life reverently. even working as a taxidermist, she is used to death but still is appalled by the idea of killing. meanwhile, melinoe is a born and bred killer, but she begins to change as she allies with inesa. i loved how melinoe, who was built deliberately to not be human, begins to develop and grow feelings beyond what she was made for.

the romance was instalove, and i think it could've been built up stronger. i wish there was more tension built up between them two. also tbh having caerus livestream them making out is a nasty violation my god??? like idk. i was rooting for them though but i really think this book would've benefitted from having a sequel and exploring their relationship even further. the ending of chapter thirty though GOD it hit me in the chest.

there isn't a hea, but i think the ending makes sense for the story. i think the ending isn't necessarily tragic; it reads more wishful and hopeful. if ava reid has ever wished to write a sequel (and i see her books so i know she will write that sequel) i need her to get on that zoom and start,

i enjoyed this! maybe i need to tune into more ava reid. perfect for those who miss the 2010s-dystopian ya novels and fans of the hunger games,

thanks to netgalley and harper collins for the arc!