This was a surprising read, it had tension and mystery throughout and the ending was quite bitter sweet.

I wasn’t too sure what would be the reason for everything happening and the secrecy, but I was quite shocked by the high stakes and dire situation that required this solution.

Ollie and Ruby 1000% deserved better, but again the ending was some justice, I just wish we could’ve gotten more information on Annie and Zane after that epilogue ending.

This was a 3.5/5 read for me. It started out really slow for the first 40% with a lot of the same information being reiterated multiple times. I had a hard time connecting with Zane the MC, I felt like he did a lot of whining. Ollie just came off as annoying and Ruby comes off as helpless. I did enjoy Annie, she was a strong female MC.

I had a hard time putting it down after things started happing which made the book more enjoyable. There are a few twists that I wasn’t expecting which was great. I wish there was more of the middle and less of the build up to the action.

The ending was a bit disappointing. I wanted more of the after. Ollie and Ruby got shafted. Overall it was a solid 3.5 star read and I do think a lot of people would love this book.

Side Note: I did notice a few errors and the way some things were worded came off weird and annoyed me a bit.

I really loved this book! It was a really quick read with some awesome characters and a plot that worked really well. It was one heck of a ride and I enjoyed it thoroughly Well paced with some sci-fi/dystopian elements. I don't normally enjoy YA books quite this much, so that's saying a lot!

All of the children at Stoneybridge school in Scondham are subject to weekly Reviews. These are weekly meetings with a member of staff where students report on their academic, social and recreational progress. Sixteen year old Zane dislikes these meetings as much as the next student but unlike his peers, he is beginning to suspect that there is something else going on and decides to investigate.

I really enjoyed the idea of this book and struggled to put it down as I wanted to know what was going on. That said, there were a couple of things that I struggled with. I found that the ending was very rushed and, when I got to 75% and still didn't know what was going on, I was worried that there was going to be an awful lot to fit in. The first three quarters of the book were detailed and set the scene of Zane's world well but I didn't feel that the same level of attention was given to the last part of the book.

I also found some of the language grating; the style didn't seem to change between narration and Zane's thoughts. I work in a school and some of the writing sounded like when children have learnt how to write more complex sentences but not that less can be more. Every noun had an adjective and every verb, an adverb and it just felt convoluted and excessively wordy.
I did really enjoy the story though and read it very quickly, squeezing in pages when I really didn't have time to. The pace was excellent and the characters were likeable. Will definitely look forward to reading more from the author.