Buddy read with Cornelia! ❤

2.5 stars.

The beginning was pretty great, establishing a super-creepy (and quite graphic) setting; I liked the balanced suspense from knowing some, but not all, of what was going to happen. Of course the representation was great: an explicitly asexual character and two explicit WLWs (one possibly bi/pan), and a good example of how easy it is to throw in diverse characters without minimizing their experiences or having it take over the plot. The writing flowed, though it sometimes was a little too descriptive, bordering on cheesy or awkward.

But somewhere around the middle, maybe partly because I read this book over a month so I was constantly dropping in and out of the story, I started to lose interest. Not much was happening besides some teenage angst and a sharp turn into overt and unnuanced man-hating (except for Grayson of course, because he's a cinnamon roll in a very corrupt world) and some victim-blaming. I also didn't like the ending; I felt like it undermined so much of the buildup going into the climax.

So yeah. Great premise, great setup, but it kind of fizzled.

Recommended by Chaima @ Run Away with Dream Thieves.