I have to say that it took me a few chapters to get into. I have a love hate relationship with books that change points of view back and forth. It was a little too choppy at places and the pacing was just a wee bit off for my taste. That wasn't it so much though. To be 100% honest I'm not that sure why exactly I had an issue getting started. I will however, say that once I did get into it I was invested. It was the banter and situation between Perry and his nephew, Talon that hooked me. Perry wanted simply to give him an apple. For what ever reason it was THAT simple thing that pulled me into the story. The fact that he had to be sneaky because food was scarce, people's heightened senses made it hard to be sneaky, and so forth, left me wanting to learn more. 
 I loved the characters. It took a while for me to like Aria, but Perry and Roar were an instant hit with me. I found myself enjoying some of the secondary characters a bit more than our leading characters. For example: the poor tormented soul of Cinder who so desperately wants to be loved and belong, yet due to self-loathing by a tragedy he caused, he can't find it within himself to allow himself to be accepted, and yet he still protects those he loves from a distance .... WOW .... what a great character! Another reviewer called Perry a tortured soul, no no NO! The tortured soul is definitely Cinder!! I am very interested in how his characters pans out. I am hoping his story is far from completed in this book. I would have to say thought that my very favorite character is Marron. When ever he was in a chapter I was thrilled and could not help but picture him as the actor Glenn Shadix (Beetlejuice, Demolition Man). Fabulous!!!