I really appreciated the pace in which the author revealed the world to us, the readers. Many books of this genre tell the story as if the reader should have some foreknowledge of how the world is set up and they have to play catch up to try and understand what's going on. James does a great job of revealing the world to us in a way that keeps pace with the character's understanding. It really was a pleasure. 
 I identified with Thomas early on and understood his reactions better than the reactions of some of the other characters, but this being the start of a series, I imagine that we may gain further understanding of his back story as the series proceeds. 
 I read the book in 3 days, which is perhaps the best indicator of how well I was able to immerse myself into the story and want to continue reading.