We're discussing this in Teen Book Club next week and I am equally grateful that I got the chance to read this and that I don't have to bother reading the rest of the series. 
 Let's break this down into a pros and cons list Rory Gilmore-style. 
 PROS: 
 -Super high concept. The people with silver blood have powers; the people with red blood don't. Mare Barrow has red blood AND she has powers. Whaaaaat? 
 -It's a fascinating genre-mash of fantasy and dystopia and sci-fi. There's a pretty traditional fantasy monarchy with all of the horror of The Hunger Games. There are some pretty impressive super powers on display and I never got bored of reading about all of the different kinds of Silver-wielded power. Also, technology like cameras and TV exist and that entirely caught me off guard because I was expecting old school middle ages fantasy from this book. 
 -Mare can control lightning and electricity with her powers. How baller is that? 
 -The adults are just as (if not more) interesting than the teens. 
 -It took me about fifty pages to get hooked, but then I was HOOKED. 
 -That's it, that's all I've got. 
 CONS: 
 -Yeah, those first fifty pages? Not really necessary. Start with the inciting incident. 
 -Love QUADRANGLE? Seriously? 
 -Mare doesn't have any female friends and I'm so sick of when that happens in books. Women have friends who are other women and that's especially true for teenage girls. (PRO: Some of the female characters are legitimately intriguing and there are lots of other female characters.) 
 -I saw most of the twists coming. To be fair, I think they would have been effective if I had read this as a teenager. I'm curious to see how my teens reacted. 
 -Mare lacks a personality. She can do some interesting things, but as for her personality, I have no idea what words I would use to describe her. She's...hardscrabble, I guess? I mean, you kind of have to be if you're going to be involved in a revolution. Other characters are more nuanced. 
 {3.5 stars}