I’ve heard so many things about this novel. It’s gotten to the point where every other person who talks about a book says something about this series. So, of course, I had to give it a try! I’m going to give you a little review of how I felt about the world-building, the plot, the characters, and the writing style. 

With the world-building, I don’t know if it was just me, but I felt like I knew very very little about the Reestablishment. You get snippets here and there, but all-in-all, this dystopia wasn’t painted into a full picture. There were parts where I understood the setting and everything, but more often than not I was kind of like, okay, so why are these people so bad? Even though the world-building was lackluster to me, the plot was pretty good in my opinion. 

So, you have Juliette starting out in her cell in the asylum. Very quickly (like the first 10%, so I don’t consider this a spoiler really), she is taken out into the world for the first time in nearly a year. This is where we start to learn more about what’s going on in the world. Now that I’m thinking about it, maybe we were in the dark because Juliette was in the dark with the world-building? Anyway, it’s a very easy plot to follow, but doesn’t have much substance. I feel like a lot of it was, “We went here,” and then, “We went there.” There were impactful moments and times where I was invested, but honestly? I was less invented than I normally am for a novel. However, I do think the ending set up the rest of the series for a very interesting turn.

With the characters, I legitimately didn’t really care for Adam. Was that just me? I actually liked Warner more than Adam and I feel like Warner is getting set up to be the Damon to Adam’s Stefan (I reallyyyyy hope y’all get this reference 😂). With Juliette, I liked her character to an extent. I really hope she grows more as I continue the series because otherwise, I don’t think I’ll be able to read the rest. 

I think where the big love comes in for this book is with the writing style. Although, some people may really really hate this, the writing style has a lot of flourish in it and imagery. Juliette writes in a way that she is constantly looking at the outside world as a poem (that’s the best way that I can describe it). I honestly liked this because I love beautifully written things. However, I know that a lot of people will just hate it because there’s hardly any storytelling. It was one of the highlights for me, though. 

Overall, this novel wasn’t exactly what I expected because I expected something… more? Especially with how much people talk about it. The plot and world-building were disappointing and the characters have a lot to be desired.  I did read one review on Goodreads that said this first book is just the stepping stone to something greater, soooo I’m crossing my fingers!

Source: Personal Copy

(P.S. You can read this book for free by signing up for a free trial of Audible, which gives you two free audiobooks of your choice!)