Nita Good Book

This book had quite a few negatives for me. Character development, especially Andrew's, was too slow for me. I really didn't understand Mia and Whitney's friendship. It seemed very uneven in the beginning and then Whitney acted very resentful and pathetic the whole time they are on the run. Character reactions were off or silly. Characters would laugh at the oddest times, I thought. And the bad guy was ridiculously evil. The reasons for the Registry and really how American society ends up in this book really didn't work for me. I guess I just couldn't imagine a society with teenage boys running all willy nilly with no real support or direction and then forcing them at 19 to serve in the armed forces for four years. I guess I would expect more chaos from such a setup.

What I did like - I was worried this book would be very male-negative. We were supposed to like Andrew, but I found him overly stubborn (like, through the whole book). But I was happy when caring, stronger male characters showed up. I also liked Mia - even though I felt like, beyond her revelations of her society and not wanting to marry and then running, she really didn't grow as a character. At the same time I guess I would say she is strong willed, which I liked.

I was pretty bored at times for a book with characters on the run and in a very dangerous situation. Overall, this book was a meh for me.

ARC provided through Edelweiss.