While I'm always apprehensive about picking up a series I got into in my early teens, I'm really glad I circled back to this one. Not to put down YA Sci-fi/Dystopia as a genre, but this one honestly feels different. It has a fascinating, unique-as-far-as-I-know premise and avoids a lot of the tired tropes that exasperate me (including

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Chosen One, Face/Underqualified Leader of the Rebellion, Save Yourself at the Cost of Others [because, again, Chosen One], Boy Next Door vs. Mysterious New Boy Love Triangle

).

Though perhaps I'm biased because several elements —

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the broad strokes of plot development, the workings of the clinic, even some of the dialogue

— almost feel like something I would've written when I was younger and as avid a storyteller as a reader. (Not that I ever managed as imaginative or cohesive a novel as this one!) I don't really know how to explain it, beyond that the flow of the narrative just feels right to me?

I particularly appreciated that you can tell the protagonists are all in over their heads — they're kids, and they're scared, and the world actually is out to get them, and everything they've been told is a lie, and they don't know who they can trust, and they have no idea what to do next but they know they have to do something. So they're pushing past fear to do what they think is right, to stand up for themselves and others ... how could you not root for them?

The characters and relationships really shine, which makes sense given their importance to the premise. The understandings between Eva and Addie,

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Hally and Lissa, Devon and Ryan, and all the rest

, as well as their individual personalities, are definitely a huge part of what made this book memorable for me. And it doesn't hurt that there's just a hint of romance towards the end.

Zhang has clearly given a lot of thought to the implications of the whole born hybrid but the recessive soul goes away setup, including socio- and geopolitical relations. Many smart questions are raised in this book; I look forward to seeing how they're developed and answered as the series continues.

content warnings:

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past genocide, xenophobia, death of children, medical testing on kids, government conspiracy, gaslighting

rep:

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biracial (possibly Asian-coded) major characters

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CONVERSION: 11.6 / 15 = 4 stars

Prose: 6 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 9 / 10
Emotional Impact: 8 / 10
Development / Flow: 7 / 10
Setting: 8 / 10

Diversity & Social Themes: 3 / 5
Intellectual Engagement: N/A
Originality / Trope Execution: 5 / 5
Rereadability: 4 / 5
Memorability: 4 / 5

content warnings:

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human sacrifice, death of children, fratricide, blood, suicide by drowning, childbirth death

★ 2.5 stars ★

Hm. Conceptually this is interesting, and I liked all the setting details. I didn't check the synopsis before starting, so it was a slow creepy build to the big reveal, then a slow descent to the resolution.

But frankly, I've read dozens of fanfics that I think do a better job with the

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lovers reincarnated through history

base trope. There were too many unresolved questions (or you could even call them plot holes), and while each section is nice as a component of the whole, on their own they didn't get me all that invested in the story.

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CONVERSION: 6.6 / 15 = 2.5 stars

Prose: 5 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 3 / 10
Emotional Impact: 2 / 10
Development / Flow: 6 / 10
Setting: 7 / 10

Diversity & Social Themes: N/A
Intellectual Engagement: 3 / 5
Originality / Trope Execution: 1 / 5
Rereadability: N/A
Memorability: N/A

content warnings:

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precanon parent death, past pedophilia & incest & rape, sexual trauma, past child abduction, slut-shaming, bullying, sexual harassment, mention of suicide by OD, sex as coping mechanism, suicide joke, transphobic joke, acephobia, ableist language (incl. “cr*zy”), romanticization of suicide (later retracted), non-graphic sexual content

rep:

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gay Mormon best friend [Breckin], (very) minor M/M relationship

For real, I kept meaning to DNF this. Curse my need to be vindicated in predicting that the reveals were exactly as cliched as I thought they would be. (I was right.) And, apparently, my residual FOMO from being too young to get into 2010s lit that romanticizes things it really shouldn't.

Basically I liked exactly one (1) thing about the plot:

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that the love interest befriends, rather than being threatened by, the gay best friend

. Meanwhile, I disliked pretty much everything else:

-

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Childhood sexual trauma

leads to lack of sexual interest/attraction ... until she meets The Right Guy. (But there's also acephobic remarks about how she's "broken," because of course. Side note: I don't mean to be glib about the

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childhood sexual trauma

, IRL it's a very serious issue that deserves sensitivity ... but unfortunately it's also become a literary cliche.)
- Lots of slut-shaming (even of the best friend), MC is Not Like Other Girls^TM, but look the relationship between the MC and LI is different and special! It's ~pure~ or whatever.
- All the awareness that obviously this guy is bad news, he has a troubled past and a temper is thrown out the window because

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he's hot, misunderstood, and they have history together

. And all the good things in her life are tied to him somehow.
- All The Flashbacks.
- Everyone lies about everything, except the MC.

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CONVERSION: 3.2 / 15 = 1 star

Prose: 3 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 2 / 10
Emotional Impact: 1 / 10
Development / Flow: 3 / 10
Setting: 2 / 10

Diversity & Social Themes: N/A
Intellectual Engagement: N/A
Originality / Trope Execution: 1 / 5
Rereadability: 1 / 5
Memorability: 1 / 5

>> Series buddy read with Amanda!

content warnings:

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major character death(s), grief, torture, branding, body mutilation (tongue cut out), slavery, child conscription, on-page self-harm (scratching)

★ 3.5 stars ★

Honestly, I have no recollection of previously reading this book except for the ending, so I'm just trusting my younger self's records that this is a reread. But having finished this book, I have to say that it's not all that memorable — not much happens until the last chapter or so; it's more so a lot of feelings and arguments and biding their time.

In the context of a quartet about revolution/war, though, I think it works. Just doesn't make for super exciting reading.

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CONVERSION: 9.8 / 15 = 3.5 stars

Prose: 6 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 8 / 10
Emotional Impact: 7 / 10
Development / Flow: 5 / 10
Setting: 8 / 10

Diversity & Social Themes: N/A
Intellectual Engagement: N/A
Originality / Trope Execution: 4 / 5
Rereadability: 3 / 5
Memorability: 2 / 5

3.5 stars (?)

idk, I need more time to process this one. But while I was reading I kept thinking that I disagreed on principle with what Rilke was saying, even though I wasn't entirely sure I understood the point he was making — just a weird, discomfiting experience all around.

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CONVERSION: 10.25 / 15 = 3.5 stars

Prose: 8 / 10
Intellectual Engagement: 6 / 10
Credibility: 7 / 10
Organization / Structure: 6 / 10

Emotional Impact / Interest: 3 / 5
Rereadability: 4 / 5
Memorability: N/A

RTC.

content warnings:

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rep:

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CONVERSION: 8.5 / 15 = 3 stars

Prose: 4 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 4 / 10
Emotional Impact: 2 / 10
Development / Flow: 6 / 10
Setting: 9 / 10

Diversity & Social Themes: 3 / 5
Intellectual Engagement: 4 / 5
Originality / Trope Execution: 4 / 5
Rereadability: N/A
Memorability: 3 / 5

>> Buddy read with Haley!

FRTC.

content warnings:

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rep:

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CONVERSION: 6 / 15 = 2 stars

Prose: 4 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 3 / 10
Emotional Impact: 2 / 10
Development / Flow: 5 / 10
Setting: 6 / 10

Diversity & Social Themes: 3 / 5
Intellectual Engagement: N/A
Originality / Trope Execution: 1 / 5
Rereadability: N/A
Memorability: 2 / 5

I received an advance review copy from Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers through Netgalley; all opinions are my own and honest.

RTC.

content warnings:

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rep:

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CONVERSION: 8 / 15 = 3 stars

Prose: 7 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 6 / 10
Emotional Impact: 4 / 10
Development / Flow: 5 / 10
Setting: 8 / 10

Diversity & Social Themes: 2 / 5
Intellectual Engagement: N/A
Originality / Trope Execution: 1 / 5
Rereadability: N/A
Memorability: 3 / 5

I received an advance review copy from Wednesday Books through Netgalley; all opinions are my own and honest.

1.5 stars

I finished this book because I wanted to give it a fair chance to demonstrate character development and all that, but I wish I'd saved myself the frustration. Even at the very end, Cassie is incredibly judgmental and snobby, self-absorbed, spiteful — it doesn't seem to sink in that her actions actually hurt other people, just that she was meant to learn a series of karmic lessons (because the world revolves around her, of course).

FRTC.

content warnings:

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rep:

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CONVERSION: 3.5 / 15 = 1.5 stars

Prose: 4 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 1 / 10
Emotional Impact: 1 / 10
Development / Flow: 3 / 10
Setting: 6 / 10

Diversity & Social Themes: 0 / 5
Intellectual Engagement: 0 / 5
Originality / Trope Execution: 1 / 5
Rereadability: N/A
Memorability: 1 / 5

3.5 stars

RTC.

content warnings:

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rep:

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CONVERSION: 10.3 / 15 = 3.5 stars

Prose: 6 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 7 / 10
Emotional Impact: 6 / 10
Development / Flow: 8 / 10
Setting: 8 / 10

Diversity & Social Themes: 3 / 5
Intellectual Engagement: N/A
Originality / Trope Execution: N/A
Rereadability: 4 / 5
Memorability: 3 / 5