3.5

For being a novel that so hyped and so loved, this first installment in the series really didn’t feel like much at all. It felt like it was a prequel that, albeit was necessary, but didn’t make my heart pound and head rush as I tried to figure things out. The pacing at the start of the novel definitely threw me off because it felt too quick and as if I was missing something the entire time. It could be part of the purpose, but if I didn’t binge the next 150-170 pages or so, I would’ve felt so lost. It definitely wasn’t as good as I thought it was going to be, but I don’t think it was overhyped either. It definitely created a dystopian world that’s really interesting and has a lot of room to grow. I usually hope for some sort of emotional attachment, but there wasn’t much there for me. I definitely do sympathize for the characters though, so that was well done on that aspect. The biggest thing that still throws me off the superhero aspect of the story? I genuinely do not see that from the first installment at all. Overall though, fairly entertaining and I will be continuing with the story.