I don't know that I really liked this as much as I appreciated it - the subject matter is extremely confronting - and I don't know that I'd call it young adult either, although the author does in the afterword and he would know. It's a war story set in the future, inspired by the Nigerian/Biafran war of the late 1960s. And honestly, although it is very well-written, I spent most of the book thinking that I would give it three stars. That is not an indication of its quality. Rather, it is a reflection of the fact that two of this novel's primary characteristics are things that generally don't appeal to me.

First, there's a lot of cyberpunk influenced things here. Implants, cybernetics, hacking, that sort of thing. With the best will the world this is not a genre that's ever really grabbed me, and it doesn't do so here. Then secondly, so much of this book is action-packed battles, especially battles fought by characters wearing mechanical suits, and again... not for me. Never has been. I'm just not that interested in battles. However, if you are - if you love action and cyber stuff and non-stop pitched fighting - then this is absolutely the book for you.

So why did I change my mind and up the rating? Well, about two thirds of the way through the war ended. And then the two main characters - young girls on opposite sides, who had forged a relationship close as sisters when they were even younger - had to navigate peace. They're child soldiers, essentially, and the long, horrific history of how child soldiers have been used has clearly been an enormous influence on the text. I know admittedly very little about the complexities and history of the situation, but if Onyebuchi hasn't researched the hell out of this I'd be amazed, because the emotional responses feel so real. For these two girls, peace is almost worse than war. War had clear sides and purpose and camaraderie, and peace is indifference and compromise and recovery, and these are terrible, painful things... especially as the peace is so fragile, and they have hurt others (and themselves) so much. As good as the first two thirds are, and I can recognise how good even if it doesn't appeal to me personally, that final third is so compelling. It took me a long time to wade through that first section, and a very short time to finish, because by the end I was riveted.

If this book sounds like your thing, go for it. If it doesn't seem like it would appeal to you, I'd suggest you give it a go anyway, and stick with it, because it becomes so rewarding, it really does.