As seen on my blog: 
 I'll admit it, and I'm probably not the first to, but my heart will always belong to the dystopian genius that is the Hunger Games trilogy. I have yet to find a literary match that invokes the type of emotional roller coaster and soul fulfilling goodness that Suzanne Collins did. 
 With that said however, this book came close. Right off the bat, I was introduced to the dystopian world of Manhattan, New York. I started reading this right around the time hurricane Sandy began it's wrath, so the imagery described of New York mostly submerged in water wasn't hard to picture. This world, and it's back story was clear and explained very early on in the story-which, unlike other dystopians published recently, was SO refreshing. 
 I was attracted to the personality of Aria Rose almost immediately. She came off as strong and independent, even though the circumstances could have rendered her the complete opposite. I've read about too many female leads in dystopian worlds who were just plain whiny, cowardly and irresponsible. Aria had an honest heart, and stuck to her cause until the very end-I loved that. 
 The violence in this novel kind of took me by surprise, but not in a way that made me want to put it down. Quite the opposite-I admired the author's no holds barred action scenes. It was to the point and wasted no time with unnecessary logic and dialogue. I felt like the scenes were well placed and had just the right amount of thrill. 
 I absolutely loved the secondary characters, especially Hunter and Davida. They were diverse in the their characteristics, and in my opinion, really helped to drive the story forward. Through these characters, and others, Mr.Lawrence was very successful in giving the readers a perspective from both sides-life in the "Depths" below and life in the "Aeries" above. I'm SO excited to read more of their stories in the second novel-Renegade Squad. 
 I recommend this book for people still experiencing Hunger Games withdrawal symptoms. It will soothe some of your longing, I promise!