I didn't like the Hunger Games, so when I started calling this book "The Hunger Games on Mars", it was not meant to be flattering. But even though the second half is way more hungery-game-y than the first half, I still stopped calling it that a little over halfway through. This book is good in a way hunger games never was. Gritty and somehow more real, even though the universe is just as illogical and unlikely. The characters are more flushed out, less caricature, and everything is just (obviously in my opinion) way better written.

Don't get me wrong, it still had its flaws, but I did quite enjoy this, and will read the rest of them.