Interesting plot, didn't see what was coming next. 

wanted to reread this series from my middle school days, and it doesn’t disappoint! a classic ya fantasy story from that era

For me this book was a little bit slow in comparison to at least the next two books (I am in the middle of book 4 at the time of this review), but once I got into it I was invested in the characters and world building. I think that the world building is the most interesting part, the characters are a little bit predictable, but not in a bad way! I love how this bridges fantasy and dystopia, I think that is well done, in book 1 I am left wanting a bit more world development and understanding of the history, but I think it works in relation to the series. I do appreciate that the main characters are complex, I found myself questioning them throughout the book wondering if I would agree with their decisions, and wondering if I could trust them. I don't feel like in the first book the cast of characters is super diverse, though I don't think they're necessarily well described in the first book. As characters continue to be developed and explored it becomes clear that the cast is fairly diverse.

Love love love this book. The worldbuilding is interesting, the characters are flawed and feel real, and the twist actually got me. I’m sure someone else may have predicted it but I really wasn’t expecting it. I read this whole book in one night, in I believe about 6 hours, and will be immediately reading the next book.

This is a reread for me and while I remembered some of the big plot points, I didn’t remember most of the book so it was still interesting enough. I had forgotten just how much Mare frustrates me though. Like, she was a thief who was very street-smart but she lost all ability to use common sense once she was thrust into her new life.

Someone else mentioned in their review that most 17 year old girls wouldn’t have questions about their blood as a plot hole and I felt so vindicated when I saw that because I spent a lot of time during this read wondering do silvers have silver periods? Do none of these courtly ladies question this? 

YA dystopian will always have my heart though so I’ll forgive Mare. I’m looking forward to continuing the series because my memory of subsequent books is very fuzzy so it should all feel brand new to me.