Can I just say it's real hard to take a book seriously when the first love interest is named Call and the second is Brig.

This had some good lessons and some decent prose, but it's a lackluster YA dystopian that doesn't add anything new to the genre.

I made it 22 minutes in before the ick got too strong. I did some googling to find out why, and this article says it best. I have no interest in finishing this.

https://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2020/07/shellenbergers-op-ad/

First off, do not compare this to Sarah J Maas. Broadbent does not have a deep enough world, her rules change too much, she has no compelling secondary characters (which is what makes maas so readable), and the slow burn was very trope-y (which I do admittedly like, but it's certainly nothing to write home about). So if you go in expecting Maas, you will be very disappointed.

HOWEVER. For what this is, it's a really good example. The slow burn was luscious, the dad-daughter relationship between Oraya and Vincent was really beautifully done, and it's just overall a solid vampire story. It's too slow to start and the world building is lackluster, and I didn't appreciate that the beginning of the story insists that everyone who enters the competition and loses will die which is later proven not to be true and really lowered the stakes. To be honest I'm sure I will have forgotten all the relevant plot points by the time I read the second book, but it was a nice fast brain candy read.

A heartbreaking and eye-opening look at the war on drugs. Would recommend to everyone who wants to live in a society instead of a police state.

I'm very glad I saw the movie first, as this would have been really annoying if I didn't know where it was going.

It really makes me want to learn magic.

One of my favorite ways of feeling a little insane is to contemplate what I'm doing in other universes, or if I would even notice if I was in the wrong one.

If you want to consider these many possibilities and also have a great many oh-no-ouch-right-in-the-heart feelings, this book is for you.

Other than the spelling choices nearly giving me a stroke, I found this really precious.

I really liked the premise, but the descriptions of the crimes were so intense it was really hard to read.