I actually liked this book a bit more than the previous books in the series, but it’s still lacking in multiple ways. 

The plot and world building is still all over the place, and while it got more focus than in previous books it’s a little bit too late. As a reader, being 5 books into a series and getting surprised at world building information I should’ve had ages ago is just annoying. 

80% of the book is just fillers, a lot of it is just spiralling thoughts from J and Warner. The ‘action’ is over before it even starts most of the time, and these kids are carried by plot armour. 

Like I’m so sorry but that sounds so stupid. “Her mind was simply strong enough to stop her brain from losing its memories” what? That’s such a dissatisfying explanation. I get that she’s strong and powerful, but it’s so cheap to use that as a reason. 

The pacing is weird yet again. Somehow a lot happened in this book while nothing was happening at all, because it was mostly info dumping between page after page of J and Warner spiralling. Only good chapters were Kenji’s, but we only got those so we could see what he and Nazeera were up to.

Adding onto the pacing issue, the timeline was very confusing and difficult to follow. A lot that happened during the book was just told to us by the POV character long after it had happened, and I honestly don’t know why. It’s an odd choice to say the least.

Overall, my main issues are with the writing. The romance is starting to feel forced, and it’s still pausing the end of the world just so J and Warner can cuddle for a bit. The lack of world building and the pacing of the plot makes the story difficult to follow, and I’ve really struggled to understand the characters. 

It’s kind of entertaining I guess, but mid and boring considering the context of “dystopian end of the world with a revolution to overthrow the dictator government”.