I really wanted to love and adore this book, with all the hype I was expecting something pretty crazy, and instead I just felt bored and a little disappointed. Nothing groundbreaking here, it just didn't go deep enough for me. I will commend Sabaa Tahir because she does write well, I was absolutely enthralled with the first few chapters - fast paced, vivid, but also very simple. But it turns out that this just wasn't the book for me. I felt like the worldbuilding left more to be desired, that there was a slew of unnecessary fantasy beasties thrown into the mix, and the characters were rather flat. 
 The characters weren't extremely interesting, if anything Helene and the Commandant were the two characters I thought were the most intriguing. However, they still weren't realistic enough. We have no real reason as to why the Commandant is the villain, other than she just is evil. Near the end we see some of the reasoning, but it's just not enough. I love a complex villain, and I think there was a huge opportunity to really flesh her out, and it just didn't reach it's full potential. Helene is constantly viewed through Elias' lusting gaze, so while she appears to be a badass lady, she's also beautiful AF and despite Elias not returning her affections, he still ogles her when he can. 
 I understand that Laia's charm is that she's anything but badass - she cries, she's pretty weak, not necessarily the brightest bulb in the box, meek, timid, - hell, she volunteers to be a slave to a woman who either kills or scares her slaves enough that they commit suicide. As a main character, I should have felt a connection and been concerned during many parts of the book - I wasn't. Laia didn't interest me at all. If I'm being honest, Laia's characterization was so dependent on male figures to save her from the vicious, abusive cycle that she was in. 
 The ending was rounded off well enough for this to be a standalone, but it also left me with the feeling that there could also very well be a sequel. I mean...Laia had one goal throughout this book, so all the unanswered questions kinda makes it reasonable to assume a sequel is going to happen. (view spoiler)[ IT NEVER HAPPENED. WE GET TO THE END OF THE BOOK TO ONLY FIND OUT THAT THE RESISTANCE ISN'T RESCUING HER BROTHER AND THAT HE'S STILL IN PRISON. WHAT THE HECK. (hide spoiler)] There were so many unexplored avenues and unanswered questions. It just ended up not being the book I thought it would be. 
 Overall rating is 1.5.