Oof. I don't know. I tried really hard. I wanted to like this book, kept flipping pages determined that the next one would bring me to the turn that would let me love this book. But it never came.

Technically, this is a very well-written book. Anders' prose is wonderful. The world is very interesting and developed just enough to keep me reading to learn more about it. But the characters are... Shockingly unlikeable. I didn't like Sophie, even though I kept rooting for her, just to be consistently let down. She doesn't grow, doesn't really change. She is passive and weak, which is fine at first, but not by the end. I absolutely hated Bianca and thought she deserved to die. Alyssa is a jerk and doesn't take Mouth seriously, all while telling Mouth she needs to just "get over" her trauma. Mouth was the only characters I liked, and she just gets shit on again and again.

Another review said it best, this book is written as character driven, but with no actually likeable characters.

It takes over 2/3 of the book to get to the major plot point, you're there for about 20 pages and then you're back to the same schtick again.

Maybe it's a larger metaphor or there's some really subtle themes woven in here, because I just didn't get it. Which was a bummer. I really wanted to.