this one was hard to rate for some reason. i absolutely flew through it like could not put it down!! i love a good battle royale story. i went into this only knowing that trope and im really glad i did because the first ‘twist’ (not really because its in the synopsis) really caught me off guard and i loved it. i really enjoyed the characterization and how even though there are So Many characters they each have a distinct voice and were pretty easy to remember. i think this is an unpopular opinion but i could have done with way more worldbuilding and set up before the institution.

i would have loved to spend more time in the mines and see more of darrow and eo together to make me care about them more. i also honestly could have read another 50 pages of him preparing to become a gold. i felt like that part was pretty rushed and didnt hit as hard as it could’ve. also the ending with mustang like both of those reveals were so obvious omg.

 
other than just generally needing more, my only real problem was the way sexual violence was used as a plot motivator. i dont think including that content is inherently problematic, but the amount of times it was used to move the story along or define certain characters bugged me.