** spoiler alert ** 
 The first book was pretty slow and the characters were bothersome. This book really overcame that deficit! 
 I really enjoyed the story and its themes. Its more of a story about living in an enclosed society and dealing with the PTSD of sexual assault. I enjoyed piecing together the puzzle Orion left. I really didn't see the twist ending coming. Totally wasn't expecting that! So, for story and themes, I would give the book 5 stars. However, the characters were still incredibly bothersome. So I have to take a star away for that. 
 Amy is still a spoiled brat who thinks Elder should just jump to do whatever she wants. Everything she does is really only serving her own interests. I appreciate that she's smart and willing to fight but it's really not enough to make her a character I really want to root for. At least she stopped calling her father "Daddy," so there's that at least. 
 Elder has grown a bit. I get the trouble he has been having with the sudden rise to power and trying to rule a ship on the verge of mutiny. He's a teenager and is trying is absolute best to save his people. That's got to be rough. However, I just don't understand what he even really likes about Amy. She's not even particularly all that nice to him. The only reason I can come up with is that she's "hot" and makes out with him sometimes. 
 Regardless of the characters being lame, I'm still looking forward to book 3!