I was so obsessed with this book i read it in 4 hours!

This story is largely plot driven, but it is fast and very engaging, once i started reading i couldn’t stop. It follows Louisa, who like all first born children is conscripted upon coming of age. I really enjoyed the internal dilemmas of a girl trying to find out the truth about herself and where she belongs. The story lacks major character developments and backstory for most of the characters, however i believe this is the first book in a series so i am excited to read more and learn about these characters more in future books. There was what i believe to be the start of a found family developing and i’d love to see where it goes!

The ending definitely left me wanting more!!!

4.75 ⭐️

Like every first born child, Louisa is conscripted to fight when she turns 18. But she could not predict what she will learn about herself, the fight, and the difficult choices she will have to make.

I really enjoyed the main character, Louisa, who is someone who is a bit lost and trying to find out who she is and what her loyalties are. I also really appreciated that the book very quickly drew a strong relationship between Louisa and Oliver. So much of her motivation is their close relationship and the book really quickly established the bond and connection. I also enjoyed Louisa's love interest, Jack, and the mystery around her parents.

This book is clearly the first in a series, and so the characters don't really get complete satisfying arcs in the book. I am excited to read the next one, but disappointed that the book didn't really end with any sort of closure.

I would recommend this book at anyone who enjoys YA romantic dystopian fiction, such as Hunger Games, or Divine Rivals

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for providing a free e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was an entertaining dystopian read and was vastly plot driven. I feel the story definitely told more than it showed, which a lot of fantasy books are suffering from nowadays. I enjoy bits of action throughout the story, and there just wasn't much action until towards the end.

The characters also did not have a lot of development throughout the story either. We have a lot of this is the character, this is what they're doing now and how they are. Not much background was given on some of the supporting characters. The story was fast paced though so it did have a good flow to it and was still able to keep my attention. It had good twists as well that I was not expecting.

I don't know if I would be interested enough to pick up the sequel to the book as it looks like we may be going in that direction, unless some changes were made, but definitely give this a try as you may like it.