To be honest, I was prepared to be disappointed. Why? Well, usually books that seem promising end up letting me down. Books that are hyped up like DIVERGENT and MATCHED didn't hold up to giant expectations. 
 This book did. 
 So here's the official summary: 
 " A Meth Dealer. A Prostitute. A Serial Killer. 
 Anywhere else, they'd be vermin. At the Mandel Academy, they're called 
 prodigies. The most exclusive school in New York City has been training young 
 criminals for over a century. Only the most ruthless students are allowed to 
 graduate. The rest disappear. 
 Flick, a teenage pickpocket, has risen to the top of his class. But then Mandel 
 recruits a fierce new competitor who also happens to be Flick's old flame. 
 They've been told only one of them will make it out of the Mandel Academy. Will 
 they find a way to save each other--or will the school destroy them both? " 
 -- 
 The book actually doesn't begin with him at Mandel Academy, but you know it's coming. And it's kinda hard to read the introductions when you know the interesting part--Mandel Academy--is approaching. The protagonist's name is "Flick," representing his pickpocketing skills, (view spoiler)[ once I read halfway through the book, I began to notice another reason why he's named Flick (hide spoiler)] but him changing his name is more of a way to disconnect with his past self. It's not like he grew up in the streets (quite the contrary), but a few things happened that made him run away to the streets of the Lower East Side. There he meets Joi, pronounced JOEY (I kept on wanting to pronounce it like JOY), who runs a colony of unwanted kids and teens. 
 Kirsten Miller's romance is pretty subtle. She doesn't give many details of what's going on when they're together, but from dialogue later you kinda know what happened. (view spoiler)[ This kinda confused me because the author would say they kissed, but later, in dialogue, characters say "they're screwing." Did they have sex?!?! 'Cause all I read was a kiss. Not that it really matters, but I was confused! (hide spoiler)] They have quite a relationship :D I wasn't sure about it at first, but by the middle-end of the book I loved them so much! 
 This book is extremely packed with twists and action. I noticed many underlying themes that aren't just the plain old "beat the bad guy" because everyone, even Flick, has some evil mojo that make you question people's intentions. Actually, Flick had this one moment where I felt totally disconnected with him, but I think that was a point that the author was trying to make. 
 Okay, so there were some very dark themes, which is a little expected from a book about a crime academy. But there are some very demented people.... On a lighter side, I kind of loved the satire the author used for the titles of class names. Oh, and there are great references in this book. One guy is described looking like Atticus Finch, and Flick takes note of "fake books" on shelves. (GREAT GATSBY?!) 
 I really don't want to say more because it's better to read with less information. For me, I like being surprised and really engaged in the plot/characters, and this book really hit the mark. 
 SO READ THIS BOOK! 
 By the way this book ended, it's pretty obvious there isn't going to be a sequel.... :( However, I look forward to whatever Kirsten Miller writes next, and I'm definitely reading more of her!