I liked the idea of juvenile delinquents being sent on a mission to establish a setting to explore (what I would suppose) the usual YA topics. Actually, even though older readers will certainly be familiar with many of the plot points, I quite enjoyed how all this teenage angst, young love, familial feelings, rebellion against parents and all this played out. I think the SF-setting is also used to good effect, mostly for giving some events some pressure. The attempt to social commentary might also be something appealing to younger readers (even though it might be a bit simplistic).

My main concern with the book is that in a sense there is very little story development. In fact, the story is mostly only going backwards. While we learn quite a bit about the character's past, explaining why their relations to each other are the way they are (mostly already at the beginning of the book), barely anything actually happens on Earth. I'm not sure if developing the character's past is the role of the first novel, while later books in the series go on to explore other domains; but considered on its own, the book is very lacking in many respects. Also, it's very tame in many respects: there are some hints at a character named Graham being capable to up the ante in more gruesome ways, but it is certainly no Lord of the Flies.