Right from the first chapter, I really wasn't sure I'd enjoy this novel. The writing style just didn't connect with me; I felt it was a bit messy and needed tightening up a bit. Don't get me wrong - the author can write well. It's not grammatically wrong, it's just that I didn't really like the style, and so there was something off about it for me. 
 The story itself was very underwhelming. It was sort of an amalgamation of some other popular dystopias, meaning everything felt quite cliched and overdone. Certain part of the novels felt almost as though they were lifted straight from other novels - Mare felt like a wannabe Katniss and there was a discovery towards the end of the novel that felt a lot like a twist from The Hunger Games. The competition for Cal's wife was also very much like something from The Selection. 
 The novel felt badly planned out. There wasn't really an arc to the novel, and so there wasn't any tension or suspense. I didn't feel like the novel was going anywhere. The 'revolution' was the most poorly thought out/planned revolution I've ever read about, and I saw the plot twist coming from miles away. 
 I can't even say that I really cared about the characters. Mare, the protagonist, didn't really stand out to me at all. I read an entire book from her point of view and I still feel like I don't know her. She's quite a vague character, and I didn't understand her motivations. 
 Overall, I sort of feel 'meh' about this book. It passed the time, but nothing more. I doubt I'll continue with the series when the next novel comes out.