I happened to find this book by accident as is was advertised on one of my bookmarks I got from my bookstore. Reading the summary on it, which was in German, I was not very convinced but searched online and the English description was much more appealing to me. So I decided to order the book and was super excited to start reading. 
 And it blew my mind. I started reading as soon as I could get my hands on the book around noon and was done sometimes in the same night. I literally could not put it down as Sabaa Tahir's writing is so capturing I was totally lost in the story and the characters as they get more and more background and depth the farther you get into the story. You can understand their feelings, plans and hopes and why they take the actions they do. 
 Written from a first person point of view the chapters on each character do a good job on making you feel and see the way Laia or Elias take in their surroundings and situations. It is also easy to differentiate between the two main protagonists as the personality is reflected in the writing style. This way you also get to see how they grow on a task or are uncertain and sometimes weak on the inside yet overcome their fears to achieve their goal because they do these things more for others than for themselves. But just like every other person they are not perfect and they fail, they get hurt physically and mentally, and they sometime are at the edge of their strength. 
 The setting is described equally wonderful because enough space of the book is used so everything can be imagined while at the same time does not bore you to read through these passages. To keep track of the locations that the plot takes place there is a marvellous map at the beginning of the book. 
 I think this book is truly magnificent as I don't get annoyed with the protagonists on any point of the story because even if they do things I wouldn't do, from the way it is written I can understand their motives. Because of that and the well-crafted characters with flaws and everything I never had the feeling that the author introduces a storyline that just gets to be in the book because it is convenient for the progress of the main story. 
 I really am looking forward to the release of the second book to see how the story advances further with maybe an utterly different sides of the protagonists because of new dangers or tasks they have to face. 
 Find more on my blog: Secrets of a Unique Mind