A sweeping story of the future that so poignantly shows us what can happen with the divide between science and religion/belief becomes to great cross, with definite commentary on social classes and the similarly impassible divides there. Honestly, with where things are in the world right now, I felt that this story was an incredibly accurate, and frightening, representation on what could happen. But beyond that, I just really enjoyed the story. It was such a well written YA novel - beautiful pacing and a language and story telling manner that respects the intelligence of the readers. I read some reviews that there was too much killing, gratuitous really, and I highly disagree. I think all the deaths, and the way they were carried out, played a necessary role in the development of the story, the characters, and especially Nemesis' own self-discovery and emotional growth. Tyrus as a character, at times, seemed a bit too good to be true (one of my larger complaints), but not quite to the point that it ruins the story with a lack of believably. Sidonia's relationship with Nemesis, from her side, was interestingly complicated - as she struggles to compromise her own feelings (freely felt) with the "forced" feelings on Nemesis' side. A very interesting development that I wish had been explored slightly more. Otherwise, the philosophical-ity of the story - religion vs science, class struggles, absolute ruling power, what is acceptable (as far as sacrifice) to get what you want or in the name of the greater good, and, essentially, can nature be over-ruled fully by nurture/can a genetically modified being overcome that and become her own person - delved into interesting questions and provided some compelling responses, if not full answers. I definitely enjoyed this read and (although it's ending was perhaps too happy/perfect to be real) respect the concerns that were presented by the author and the questions she raised. This is one of my favorite things about the current YA fantasy/dystopia/sci-fi genre and I hope that those who are reading it take what questions are raised and the conclusions that are reached and learn to apply those to our real lives, where those understandings of the "other" are, often, sorely lacking. Really an enjoyable read.