I loved this book. Marie Lu is one of my favorite authors and her writing just draws me in. The book cover itself and the premise drew me in. It definitely is more of a dystopian YA novel, but I really enjoyed the science fiction aspect part of the book. 

It started off fast and action packed. I really enjoyed the world building in this book, I felt like it was subtly done but helped explain a lot about the country Mara and the Federation. It definitely was a great start. I also really liked Talin. It was refreshing to see a mute main character, and that didn't seem to impede her amazing strength and determination throughout the book. The side characters were also great, and I enjoyed the banter. Red was so interesting and I just wish we got some more development or background from him, especially with more conversations with Talin. Their dialogue was a little confusing sometimes, it was hard to tell if people were signing or speaking. 

We do see her first Shield, Corian, die relatively quickly. I do wish that we got more time with the character but I think his death guides Talin's actions for the rest of the book

 

The book kept me hooked start to end. Everything feels very high stakes in this book, which is a good change from many YA novels that are predictable with knowing the protagonist will win. I felt it was pretty unpredictable in general, and there were twists until the end. I really liked the ending as well. It wasn't exactly satisfying, but it really makes me look forward to the sequel and what will happen next.