Review Detail

I'd heard such good things about this book, which often leads to disappointment because rarely do books live up to the hype for me. This book was no exception. This book started off really strong and I thought it would almost live up to the hype (meaning a 4 star book for me rather than the 5 stars everyone else seemed to give it), but unfortunately, this book didn't play out like I'd hoped it would.

I really enjoyed the beginning of this book. I was super intrigued by all the different manifestations of the Tox on the girls and thought the way it was written was very interesting. I liked the split perspective and getting to see the outside world (both just beyond the fence and further out, to the non-contaminated population). I thought the dynamics between the girls was really interesting and was interested in finding out what was gonna happen.

Unfortunately, about 3/4 of the way through, things just started deteriorating. There was an f/f romance that I wanted to love, but there was no build-up to their relationship and the chemistry between the characters was incredibly lacking given that they kind of seem to hate each other throughout the entire book (even after they get together). It felt like the author just threw it in there for brownie points almost, because it didn't really feel necessary either and didn't fit with anything that was happening with the rest of the plot.

I also found this to be one of those books that leaves you with more questions than answers, which is something I hate when I'm reading a book. I'm okay with certain things being left to the reader's imagination, but so many of the explanations for things that happened in this book were either done halfheartedly or just weren't explained at all, and I find that so frustrating. The explanations for things were so unsatisfying, and that was my biggest disappointment with this book.

I also thought the ending was so abrupt and unfinished. I literally finished this book saying "are you kidding me?" when it ended. I get that the author was trying to leave some things to the reader to determine what happened after the story ended, but it almost felt like the author got lazy and just decided she was done writing because it kind of made no sense. I wanted more and was sorely disappointed.

Overall, this book started off strong and then went downhill for me. I can't really recommend this book like other people can because I was left incredibly unsatisfied with it. YMMV.

TW: gore, body horror, graphic violence, self harm, animal death, parental death, death, suicide, suicidal ideation, chemical gassing