Tella Holloway's brother is sick. Doctor's can't help him and, as his condition worsens, their parents relocate the family to Montana for some fresh air. Tella feels helpless. Her brother is slowly dying in front of her eyes and there's nothing she can do. But then she gets a mysterious message inviting her to participate in the Brimstone Bleed, an epic race across jungle, dessert, ocean, and mountain. The winner will receive The Cure. The one thing that can save her brother's life. 
 This book is a weird mixture of (a slightly less gruesome) Hunger Games meets The Amazing Race meets Digimon (not Pokemon because there's no gotta catch 'em all). But it works. I rounded up my 3.5 stars because it is a fast paced read that had twists I did not see coming. I really enjoyed the Pandora companions. Tella is an amusing MC. She's a bit high-maintenance, but she's aware that it's her flaw. The romance is obvious from the beginning, but it develops in a very believable way and I look forward to seeing how it pans out in the next installment. Scott does an excellent job fleshing out her secondary characters. However, one character that didn't work for me was the villain. He had no real motivation for why he did the things he did. He was just bad to be bad. The villain could have used some more fleshing out for me as could the world. It wants to be a dystopian, but it just isn't there yet. I had a difficult time believing the premise behind the race and we don't learn much until the end of the book. 
 A good read for someone looking an exciting and fast-paced story, but who is also willing to suspend major disbelief over some of the world building. 
 Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. 
 Publication Date: February 25, 2014