The pace and excitement of this book grabbed my attention and kept it the whole time! This book got me out of a long reading slump. Reading it a second time, there were a few things that I picked up on that didn't quite make sense, but not enough to pull me out of the experience.

Awal-awal cukup membosankan, tapi dari pertengahan sampai akhir lumayan seru. Mungkin kalau aku baca ini waktu SMA, bakal terobsesi banget, tapi pesonanya untukku sekarang itu kurang menarik, ditambah plot twistnya yang ketebak. Walau aku tak suka dengannya tapi aku bisa memaklumi

Mare yang mudah mempercayai Maven dengan mudah, dia hanya anak remaja yang tiba-tiba punya kekuatan super dan harus hidup sebagai orang lain, sendirian dan kesepian. Sedangkan Cal, posisi dia cukup sulit, dia baik tapi dia tetaplah Perak yang tumbuh untuk menjadi Raja Perak. Ketika dia digerakkan bagai boneka untuk membunuh ayahnya sendiri, sang Raja, itu sungguh kejam, dia pasti akan mengingat mimpi buruk itu selamanya. Tidak mengejutkan melihat dia tidak melawan sama sekali disandera oleh Farley.

Belum ada keinginan untuk baca buku selanjutnya, mungkin nanti.

 SCREAMING I HATE IT HERE AND I AM SO MADDDD!!!!

I WAS ROOTING FOR YOU! WE WERE ALL ROOTING FOR YOU! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?! you know who you are 😤

sigh. anyways... I actually enjoyed this book more than I thought I was going to since I'm so late to the game with this one and YA fantasy vibes. Overall, it was entertaining although I thought the pacing was a bit weird. The first half was definitely slower and then the second half was so fast that I could barely catch a breath.

Maybe I'm naive or it's my romance-reading heart BUT I DID NOT SEE THE TWIST COMING WITH YOU KNOW WHO AND I WAS ABSOLUTELY RAGING AT IT!!! I get it, but why? Please, don't make him my villain. I love him, but not like this 😭

Nonetheless, it did keep me on my toes when all. the twists were coming in the end, some I kinda saw coming since I knew it was a series but it is what it is. I can only imagine the rage of readers who read it when it was first released before the rest of the series was finished/out LOL. I am so excited to continue and see where this series goes since there is so many possibilities! 

This feels like Hunger Games but without the Games mixed with the Selections surrounding princes as love interests mixed with the X-men for the superpowers. It mostly reminds me of the Hunger Games, because how is Mare's situation is oddly close to Katniss's. I found the main love interests without sparkling personalities, but I liked Maven and sometimes Cal, too. Liked the descriptions of superpowers and the abilities the Silvers had.

Though I wanted some more interaction, perhaps Evangeline becoming one of the good guys, and befriending Mare, it didn't happen. A plot twist can be expected easily, and I've thought of that briefly when Maven said that he'll join the Scarlet Guards, but still, enjoyable. And I liked the bloodbase thing, where they stored all the blood and how Maven helped Mare out of her situation that would've put her to death. Wanted a scientific fiction backup for all those Silver and Reds divide, and what was the detailed backstory before it. Also, wanted Kilorn to be Mare's love interest, but it seems he is in the friend-zone (they didn't do any romantic stuff, like kissing or whatever) but maybe that'll appear in the next book where Kilorn is in Gale's position in the Hunger Games. Also, I wanted the more Hunger Games stuff like the details of lush and vivid and luxurious things the rich people did, but not enough for what I've been expecting.