Bridget
This was okay. Ultimately, I don't regret reading this, even though there were some things that I didn't like as much. Here's a breakdown of my thoughts.
Liked:
It was intriguing enough that I wanted to know what would happen. I enjoy wilderness survival stories, and there was some of that in this book. I definitely wasn't bored ever while I was reading.
At the end of the book I surprised myself by being somewhat attached to the characters (really only Callie and Pierce though) and caring about what happened to them.
Meh:
The romance. When I read that Pierce, the love interest, was a cowboy on Earth, I literally rolled my eyes. I was almost done right then and there lol. But by the end, I shockingly found myself rooting for them. I still wish he'd been something other than a cowboy though. Too cringy.
The allegory was very in-your-face, which I wasn't expecting. I didn't even know this was an allegory going in. And there were elements to the allegory that I found kind of weird, although I suppose that's expected. An allegory with aliens is already weird.
Disliked:
There were some issues with logic, in my opinion. For example- I found it completely unbelievable how quickly Callie grasped the whole alien situation. When she's dumped into the arena, she just immediately understands that there were aliens involved. It felt rushed and under-developed.
The writing was fine, but there were some cheesy/cringy moments. And some unnecessary angst that felt a little teenager-y.
I don't know how I feel about the ending. When Callie, Pierce, and Meg make it out of the arena, they're "rewarded" with success and wealth in their lives on earth. Does that seem a little like prosperity gospel? I'm sure that wasn't the intention, but it slightly raises an eyebrow for me...
Content/trigger warning:
This is an adult book. There is an attempted rape, and a character who manipulates/bullies girls into sleeping with him (also rape, by the way). There's also talk of sexual attraction/desires.
3.5 stars
I miss reading about Anne. This book was mostly about the Blythe children and, even more so, about the minister's children. It was cute and fun like the other books in this series, but I like Anne's adventures better.
Also, there are some racist comments in this book that brought my rating down.
4.5 stars
I really enjoyed this! Fantastic, well-plotted mystery, not too much teen angst & romance. It's been a while since I've read a really well-written mystery, and this was exactly what I wanted!
A couple notes on content: there's a good amount of swearing, including some words I'm not used to seeing in YA. There are also some references to sexual assault, rape, drugs, an inappropriate relationship between an adult and a minor (it's a mystery/thriller, so it covers some dark topics, including murder - though nothing too graphic or gory). There's also a lot of teenage drinking, and it's portrayed as just a normal high school thing.