Departures is a novel about an apparently pleasant world where everything is controlled by the Directorate, a near-omnipotent government. Everyone gets the date of their departure (i.e. death) tattooed on their arm when they're young. This is apparently based on when that individual ceases to live a full and productive life. The novel follows two sisters, one of whose departure date is the day the novel opens. It's not much of a spoiler to say that things don't go to plan.

I didn't realise this was a YA book when I started it. I don't know where I got the recommendation from. So maybe I should cut it some slack for that, but... are all YA books so heavy-handed with their social commentary? Don't teens feel patronised by this level of clumsy signposting? Yes, the Directorate's allegedly benevolent plan is stifling, we get it, you don't need to hammer home every point to quite this level of obviousness.

The idea of a techno-utopian, omnipotent state aiming at a sort of suburban fantasy lifestyle and absolutely nailing it is a pretty effective dystopian/horror premise, but the book is really undermined by how every opportunity for subtext, or letting the reader do any kind of interpretative work is totally missed in favour of clunky explicit narration outlining that the Directorate is oppressive actually?

There are a couple of plot points (some major ones) that I don't think really make any sense, but I'll post them in a CWed follow up comment so that I don't have to spoiler warning this review.

I will also say that I did like the ending. It's satisfying to read a book that has an ending you can't necessarily see coming a mile off, and that does actually just end, without spending the last couple chapters setting up the inevitable sequel. It's nice to have closure.

In short, a nice premise, somewhat undermined by aspects of the execution.