3.5 stars. If I really want to be fair, I should probably go a full 4 stars because I liked the story. In fact, I think this book was executed so much better than Matched, Wither and Uglies were (bringing up these three over other dystopia books because they all have similar plot points somewhere that parallel this book). 
 In fact, I will even give the fast, hard, and all-consuming love a major pass because I think in this particular instance, to love would be to rebel and it's in our nature to be curious and pursue what we're denied. Anything that is held back from us can consume our thoughts and desires to the point where it becomes the most desirable thing on earth. In this case, it was love, touch, and human connection. If we weren't able to have it, would we not crave it upon having our first taste? 
 The only thing really holding me back from going the full 4 stars is that when I read dystopia, I want to get hyped. HYPED I TELL YOU. GET ME PUMPED UP. We're going to THROWDOWN ON THIS BITCH ASS GOVERNMENT!!! So much of the plot revolved around the day to day life and the falling in love (again, sort of understandable with this particular plot) that I didn't get any of that heart-pumping nervousness until the very end - which did, in fact, rock. Pretty hard, actually. 
 The start was a bit slow, but once the story got moving I found myself wrapped up in this author's writing style. The wordy descriptions didn't bother me the way they did in Uglies. At least I wasn't as bored while reading the book and did enjoy the love story more than I expected to. It was kind of adorable if I'm going to be honest here.