2/5

In contrast to the BookTok rumours, I believe this denies all. 

This book wasn’t that good (but I read the rest of the series and believe me, the books just get better). Adam actually seemed really nice and why do people actually like Warner? 

This is a dystopian, action-packed book. Juliette Ferrars decides to take a new stab in her life through the chaos, by believing in herself and pushing through her traumatic past to regain control over herself mentally and physically. Born with powers that kill people with her touch, the Reestablishment locks her up to never be dealt with human beings again, until she is given an opportunity to become a weapon or a warrior.

First, let’s talk about the writing style. It was chaos and I didn’t like it. It was a bunch of similes, metaphors and jumbled-up words that shouldn’t be in the same sentence. Nothing made sense. For example, here is a small excerpt of the book:

I have a curse

I have a gift

I am a monster

I'm more than human

My touch is lethal

My touch is power
 

Apparently, the writing style is supposed to be matching to Juliette’s mental state, and I found that quite cool, but seriously? This was very confusing. But don’t fret, the writing improves throughout the series, as does her mental health (we love!!). 

Second, I don’t think this book should've been marketed solely as a sci-fi dystopian, but rather romance. I think this book is mainly romance, with not much sci-fi involved but does revolve around that dystopian world. 

Thirdly, the cheesiness is making me actually want to cry. Please never bring these quotes to my face again: "He says it with a small smile the size of Jupiter." "I blush through my bones."

Seriously? Like along with the terrible writing style, don’t add crazy, cheesy romance too. 

Lastly, the characters. Why is Juliette so whiny? And is she just waiting for death and sulking while she’s at it. I mean I guess I understand how bad the living conditions are, but Tahereh Mafi added I think 100 pages too many for her whining. It got annoying at times.

Overall, even though this review made it sound like a one-star, I gave it a 2 because of the plot and world-building. The author gave really detailed description of the setting and I liked that. It wasn’t too many details to my liking, and nothing was short too.

If you want to read this book, honestly do it because the books get better; the characters become tolerable, the plot gets crazier along with plot twists and someone shows up.