Amberlin Kwaymullina might be my favourite young adult author writing, and well, now she is writing again. There is a smart, thought provoking set of ideas weaving through this perfectly paced adventure, but you don't have to notice that if you just want to get swept up in a good story.
It is a bold move to center the idea of deception as survival skill, one that will resonate with many who move through a world that inherently threatens them. 
There is a lot that is innovative here, but  Kwaymullina centers a trope (how fast things become tropes!) of a test that pits young people from different social groups against other, which balances the more unfamiliar ideas.
This felt very wrapped up as a standalone, but is listed as a series, so will be interested in how it goes.