I received a free ARC copy of this book through Goodreads First Reads.
What would you do if you were pulled into a different place and told to fight aliens? What if you didn't win? In this case, you die.
Miki Jones is having a normal, high school drama filled day until she tries to save someone from being ran over. She thinks she dies, but then she is pulled into a sort of game. There, she and other teenagers form a team and have to fight the Drau, a deadly alien species. She learns that once they complete the mission they were 'pulled' to do, they are pulled back to their normal lives, in the moment they left off from. However, there will be more missions and they will keep being pulled. If they die in the game, they die in real life.

It took me a while to get into this book, but it was well worth it when I did. Miki and her friends start out immature, but Miki is pulled into the game in the second chapter, avoiding an overdose of that. In the game, she meets new people as well as people she vaguely knew of before in her normal life, Luka and Jackson. Luka is a kind and thoughtful character. Jackson is cocky and tortured. Naturally, a love triangle is formed. Thankfully, the love triangle does not take center stage in this story.

My favorite part of this story was the plot. Some points were a tad predictable, but I really got into the alien idea the author had going. She kept the plot fairly intense, and I couldn't put it down by the last 100 pages. The ending is naturally a cliff-hanger, but it does make me eager for the sequel.

Another thing I loved was Miki's character development. She comes a long way throughout this book. Even behind all the crazy alien action scenes, you see her at home with her widowed father, a broken man who is still trying to be a father. I was often touched by how much Miki cared for him and how it was killing her to see all the empty beer bottles he left around. Miki might actually be one of my top characters in terms of development that I've read. I hope to see more of that in the next book.

Jackson, while a smidge overdone in his tortured-ness, was very lovable. I felt he truly respected Miki and pushed her to do her best. Luka was sort of on the back-burner, so much so that I almost wished he hadn't been made part of a love triangle. He's a great friend to Miki, and I think friendship fits them both far better than a romantic relationship, regardless of whether Jackson is there or not.

While I enjoyed most of the secondary characters, I have little love for Carly, Miki's high school, normal best friend. She is immature and petty throughout the entire story. When Miki stands up to her, I absolutely love it, because Carly needs that. I know that many high school girls are like that, but I felt her character was made to fit that semi-stereotypical role and lacked depth. She does, however, make a good contrast for how Miki is maturing, and it was nice to see that.

If you are unsure of this book and think aliens/gaming aren't your thing, I still encourage you to give it a try if you like non-contemporary YA. The story has a way of growing on you. If you love alien/gaming/action-y things, then I would highly recommend you give this a try. 4/5 stars.