3.5 stars

Considering this is a middle book in a trilogy and those are always hit-or-miss for me, I was pleasantly surprised.

Once again, this book doesn't pack in a ton of plot; at the end I looked back and realized that most of the developments have been fairly subtle (character growth, relationships, public attitude of the country re: hybrids, etc.). The emphasis seems to be on characterization and internal/interpersonal conflict, which was unexpected but I'm into it.

I'm also into the way the characters actually talk things through instead of getting mad when others can't read their minds or naively hoping things will fix themselves — there's still quite a bit of the lack-of-communication issues that a lot of teenagers (both fictional and real) exhibit, but it's not all wrapped up in angst and unresolved grievances. Which, again, I appreciate.

Romance is still less of a focus than in a lot of YA books, but Zhang addresses a lot of the conundrums that come up when you and your partner each share a body with someone else: consent, privacy, et cetera. But overall I find these relationships almost clinical, because while I enjoy the intellectual exploration of these topics, I just don't feel any sparks or tension between the actual pairings.

There is one point that confuses me — the fact that

Spoiler

Devon's name doesn't appear until the third chapter, even though there are mentions of Ryan and descriptions of Hally and Lissa, Kitty and Nina

— but in the grand scheme of things it's probably not important.

content warnings:

Spoiler

consent issues [due to sharing a body], on page riot, on page car collision, on page explosion, past genocide, past death of children, mentions of torture, blood, non-graphic violence

rep:

Spoiler

biracial major characters (one is a love interest), central African secondary character

[Shelving this as NA even though the POV character is 15 because

Spoiler

it introduces major characters who are college- and new-grad aged, and whose arcs fit the NA demographic better than YA

.]
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CONVERSION: 10.4 / 15 = 3.5 stars

Prose: 6 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 8 / 10
Emotional Impact: 8 / 10
Development / Flow: 6 / 10
Setting: 7 / 10

Diversity & Social Themes: 3 / 5
Intellectual Engagement: 4 / 5
Originality / Trope Execution: 3 / 5
Rereadability: 4 / 5
Memorability: 3 / 5