The full review can be found at The Book Bratz

I am honestly disappointed. I had really high hopes for this book, and it wasn't what I was expecting at all. I am more disappointed in myself for requesting a book because the cover caught my eye. I didn't dislike like this book as a whole though. I liked the feminist theme, the idea, the world built (somewhat) but there were many things that I disliked as well.

I didn't connect with either main character. There was just nothing there. I struggled with the verse, it was beautifully written but I wasn't getting a clear picture of anything. The world building came mainly from Kiran's point of view, and that was very limited. I honestly disliked almost all the characters in this book. Sudasa's family was a huge thorn in my side for more then half of this book, it was quite irritating.

As I mentioned the writing was beautiful, and I do plan on reading more by Holly in the future. Maybe I'll even give this one another go. But as beautiful as the writing was 5 to 1 lacked on certain aspects. I did how ever like the idea behind 5 to 1: Woman taking the upper hand and forming their own country to avoid prosecution of their gender. The feminism message is something that I thoroughly enjoyed, and that was enough to pull me to finish through instead of putting it down and starting something else. I also enjoyed the Indian culture, but is was hard to get a grip because nothing was explained and I don't know much about the culture to begin with.

Overall I thought this book was a disappointment, I wasn't impressed. If anything I was frustrated. 5 to 1 does have an interesting concept and may work for some people. But for me, this one was meh.