Edit 11/30/23: Dropping to a 3. I think I was generous in saying that I almost gave this a 4. The first half really just wasn't enjoyable. 

I almost gave this a 4 because the final 40 pages or so finally pulled me in, but I'm sticking with a 3.5 (for now).

I enjoyed moments of this. It was solid. And even with a YA novel, Sanderson's worldbuilding remains top-notch. This is a very rich sci-fi world with a lot to explore and engages the reader to ask plenty of questions. The light-lance system on the star fighters was also innovative and added a good spin to fighter combat. The plot was also decent, as well as the heavy mystery aspect. There were some good Sanderson twists in the latter half of the story that kept me inclined to turn the page. 

However, I have some gripes. I struggled with almost the entire first half of the book. Spensa did turn out to be a decent protagonist, but at the beginning I found her to be a little annoying and too headstrong. And I understand she's a teenager, but this still bothered me. I also couldn't stand most of the humor in this book. Normally I am one of the few people who seem to like Sanderson's humor, but his humor at a YA level just wasn't it. Nicknaming a character "jerkface" from Spensa's perspective for the better half of the book is not funny, it's just irritating and tiresome. The DDF leadership also seemed overly petty to a point where they feel stupid? One of the twists did help this seem a little more reasonable, but I still found it odd and a bit dramatic. 

Ultimately, I think YA just isn't overly enjoyable for me. I have nothing against the genre, it's just not for me (although there are a few YA books that I'd still like to try). I'll continue the series because I have the rest of the books already, but this wasn't a spectacular read like it seemed hyped up to be. It involved a lot of eye-rolling in the first half, where the second half was the saving grace that turned this into a solid read for me. I hope the sequel books are an improvement.