I'm not a big fan of YA dystopian novels or stories, so maybe I'm not the best person to be reviewing this. But I did pick this up as my Kindle First novel for July, and it sounded interesting, so I wanted to give it a chance, because it is such a popular genre. Unfortunately, I ended up DNF'ing it at 20%.

I don't like giving bad reviews, as I know how tough it is to write a book and get it out there, but try as I may, I couldn't get into the story, or the characters. I also got confused at about 15%, with all the new characters coming and going and kept having to flip back a few pages to figure out who was who. I was afraid that it would be cliché and just another ripoff of the Hunger Games / Divergent (similar plot, settings, character stereotypes) series, and as I read some of these other reviews, it seems that's the case.

An extra star because the writing is well-done and the beginning was very, very interesting. The worldbuilding was also done well, at least as far as I got. I really wanted to like this one, and I'm afraid I won't be reading the rest of the books in this trilogy. ( )

I'm not a big fan of YA dystopian novels or stories, so maybe I'm not the best person to be reviewing this. But I did pick this up as my Kindle First novel for July, and it sounded interesting, so I wanted to give it a chance, because it is such a popular genre. Unfortunately, I ended up DNF'ing it at 20%.

I don't like giving bad reviews, as I know how tough it is to write a book and get it out there, but try as I may, I couldn't get into the story, or the characters. I also got confused at about 15%, with all the new characters coming and going and kept having to flip back a few pages to figure out who was who. I was afraid that it would be cliché and just another ripoff of the Hunger Games / Divergent (similar plot, settings, character stereotypes) series, and as I read some of these other reviews, it seems that's the case.

An extra star because the writing is well-done and the beginning was very, very interesting. The worldbuilding was also done well, at least as far as I got. I really wanted to like this one, and I'm afraid I won't be reading the rest of the books in this trilogy. ( )

Actual Rating: 3.5
I've read the first book of Bartol's Kricket series, and I got to say I liked this one more. While it does have romance it does not take center stage in this book like it did halfway through Under Different Stars (You can read how I felt about that HERE). First, I found the mix of colors on the cover gorgeous, I know they say don't judge a book by it's cover but sometimes you can't help it. Secondly, the synopsis was pretty interesting, given that technically in my family I would have been a Thirdborn, so shot and killed in this world. Third, I was hoping for a strong female character, being female myself I always lean toward female protagonists (and antagonists as well) in stories.

While yes, Roselle was a strong character she did have inconsistencies in her personality. One minute she was graceful, witty, and powerful, then the next she's a shaky and anxious mess. Plus in the beginning of the book you see she is a most loyal soldier, then suddenly she's this rebellious troublemaker. While I am all for strong characters to have faults, this change in personality had no transition.

The romance was great, since it did not interfere too much in the plot, or create drama just to create drama. I think I know where Bartol is going with it which makes me more optimistic about it. This book did remind me heavily of The Hunger Games series, especially Catching Fire but once again I preferred this book over that one. ( )

Well the world Amy has created is incredibly interesting and I thoroughly enjoyed this series opener!

Roselle was an exceptionally engaging main character and I enjoyed the camaraderie that developed between her and her fellow soldiers. This is definitely a futuristic dystopia but it also had a roman gladiator type feel to it. Maybe because it was because there were armies and swords, brutal training programmes, and the themes of deception and betrayal running throughout it. Definitely looking forward to seeing what happens in the rest of the series. ( )

interesting idea, world building was sparse enough I'm still unsure of the political arena. ( )