I'm loving this series so much. To be perfectly honest, there are some reasons to knock a star off the rating, most of them simply relating back to the fact that it's a middle grade book. I mean, it is surprisingly layered and deals with some big consequences for it's main character, Gregor. There was a bit of repetition in the story telling and the communication of his emotions that I can see wearing on a more adult reader.

For me, personally, I just loved Gregor so much, that I didn't mind. He's such a wonderful character, though not a perfect one. He's caring and brave, though he tends to get frustrated with others and jumps quickly to conclusions. One of the best things about Gregor in the first book was that he was completely "normal." He was just a boy stuck in an adventure. In this book, Gregor discovers a gift and at first I wasn't too happy about it. All said and done, though, I think it was very well played. One, because the first book hinted that this was always the series was headed. I mean, Gregor was a prophesied warrior, so it follows that there was SOMETHING out of the ordinary about him. Two, because his "gift" is something that is so contrary to who Gregor is-- the protector, care-giver. It was another way Collins picked apart things of life, death and war.

I read this on a road trip and it went by so quickly, which made it perfect trip reading.