This book gave me the same kind of whoa feeling that I got from like, the first time I saw The Matrix. I loved the mystery of it, and the hope amidst the despair.

I loved the flashbacks and the unraveling of events, and I loved the characters. I loved that our main trio was a queer boy, a fat black girl, and a Polish-British boy whose English wasn't perfect but who made himself perfectly understood.

Note: a couple of my junior high girls read this book. They both loved it but were VERY embarrassed by the brief but sort of explicit mentions of masturbation in this. Something for librarians to consider when rec-ing this book, I suppose. A good readalike for most of the philosophical dystopias out there, but a cut above most of them.