I only ever read this once, in the fifth grade I think, but wow it actually held up much better than I was expecting. Perhaps some of that has to do with the fact that this was one of the series that even as a kid I was more fond of than the others. I didn't find myself hating or getting annoyed with the characters as I usually do when reading YA. The plot also kept me fairly entertained throughout the whole book. There are definitely some things that made me roll my eyes a little, but that's always expected when reading a book from my childhood.

Overall, I wouldn't say this is really any different than the other YA dystopian books from that time period. I did like that the main character Tally wasn't some "chosen" one that was the only one who could save the world. I have the rest of the series checked out from my local library so I will keep going.