So, I am a fan of genre-y novels, and as such a person, I do actually enjoy a lot of the tropes of said novels. That said, I like the subversion of them even better, and there isn't no one subverts a trope like Sarah Rees Brennan. 
 I loved this book, I loved everything about this book. I loved that there were girls who were friends with other girls. I liked that children had families. I liked that everyone in this was a fully realized person, with their own wants and concerns that were not always perfectly transparent to any other character. I liked the way Nice People didn't always have good intentions and Nasty People didn't always have bad ones. I liked that the Bad Boy was secretly a romantic, and that the Heroine was a pragmatist. 
 I especially liked the way that the drowsy, quiet, comforting village got less and less comfortable the more Our Heroes looked around themselves. 
 In conclusion, was awesome, desperately waiting for sequel, etc.