In comparison to The Giver, which had a deeply implemented society and social structure, the society in this book is little more than a shallow low-tech society where almost everyone is struggling so much to survive that they don't care about each other at all. The misery of the average person isn't shown in very much detail, but there's no sense that anyone except those in the one "government" building has a comfortable life. 
 There's also no sense that Kira really cares about anyone except her parents, who are gone for most of the book, and her friends, who don't really do anything except for Matt. When her teacher dies, Kira seems to care more about the lost knowledge than anything else. So there's no connection as a reader to anyone either.