It has been twelve years since Verity was overtaken by monsters that spawned at the scene of every violent crime in the city. It has been five years since the city was divided into two sides: North City, where you can pay for safety, and South City, where you have to fight for it in any way you can. Kate Harker’s father rules the North City, and he has finally decided that now that she is 17, she can begin preparing to become his successor. So Kate is sent to the prestigious Colton Academy to prove her worth as the next leader of the North City. Little does she know that the son of the leader of South City, a monster named August Flynn, is being sent to Colton to spy on her. But when monster attacks become more frequent and the city is shut down, Kate and August are forced to work together to save the city and themselves.

I enjoyed this book. I’m not usually into dystopian but I was surprised by how much I liked it. I think that the concept of real monsters being created because of crimes is a super interesting concept, and unique compared to most dystopian books. I also enjoyed how much creativity was put into developing the setting, especially the differences between the North and South Cities. I think that the author intended for the idea of rich people paying to be safe from monsters in the book to reflect on real-life issues, and that concept was written in a very eye-opening way, and the idea wasn’t overused. I really liked the characters in this book. I feel like even the more background characters were written well, and I really cared about them. I also loved the main characters; it was very entertaining to read about the two children of the leaders of opposite sides of the city having to work together. I feel like the author could have exaggerated that to the point where it got annoying, but I think she did a great job writing their interactions. The one thing that I really didn’t like about this book was the fact that the origin of the monsters in the city was very briefly covered, and I would have liked to learn more about the city’s history. Also, even though I liked the characters most of the time, there were some points where personalities could be very stereotypical, which I didn’t like.

I think that this book is perfect for teen dystopian lovers. Books similar to this one include The Maze Runner by James Dashner and All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders.