Pro-tip: don't read the blurb of this novel - I'm really glad I didn't because the blurb gives away too much of the plot soooo yeah, publishers need to fix that. 
 All you need to know: Imagine a fantasy/dystopian take on Romeo & Juliet, but without the romance of Romeo & Juliet (which most of us [including myself] hated). 
 Thoughts thoughts thoughts 
 Torn between 3 or 4 stars... 
 I was hooked from the first sentence. I loved how the details of Verity (where our story is set) is slowly introduced bit by bit - it felt like I was uncovering the mystery as I read on with anticipation kh(1*V*1)kh 
 Our male MC, August is a somewhat generic brooding sensitive guy but is still absolutely adorable. Our female MC, Kate is a cool chick with a badass attitude and uh... daddy issues? There is no romance in this novel, and the platonic relationship between Kate and August is just right. (view spoiler)[I will probably still root for them to end up together because that's me being mushy hehe ?**? (hide spoiler)] 
 As for the negatives... the beginning may have been slow-paced but it was character-driven and I loved it. But as the action starts to ramp up (view spoiler)[starting probably between their enrolment in Colton till the Malchai ambush Kate and August parts (hide spoiler)] the novel starts losing the magic it had on me initially (view spoiler)[especially because it felt like Kate and August were running around aimlessly. (hide spoiler)].