I have to admit, at the beginning of the story, I liked the whole concept of the story, but it wasn't really doing much for me, until I got about 1/3 into it; that's when I really got hooked and couldn't put it down, finishing the rest of the book in one sitting. Although I can't really relate to the characters in this sci-fi, it still had me on edge wondering what was going to happen to each person. Honestly can't wait for the next book! Thanks again for letting me review this book!

Disclaimer: I had difficulty getting into this book and did not finish it.

Normally, I like stories told mostly in dialogue; however, in this case, it felt as though some of the world building was lacking, and I really wished I could just read a spoiler-filled synopsis of the whole book before reading it so I'd have some idea of what I was looking for.

I may give it another try later, but it just seems like there are too many other things to be reading right now, instead.

Loved this one. True YA sci-fi, this author I'd definitely read from again.

I chose this book because of the cover which is totally misleading. See I thought Vita was a black woman/girl, or at the very least a WOC. But the more I read about her "hazel green" turned "emerald" eyes, and about her mother with her long flowing auburn hair, and some other tidbits like those, the more I suspected I got tricked!
Now, that was a bit annoying, but had the book been good, I would at least have enjoyed a good SciFi story. But the next unpleasant surprise I got the more I read the book is that the writing didn't match the interesting premise. Vita was just not a strong enough leading character : her level of cluelessness got irritating fast, especially since she spend most of the book doing nothing much...except being a very stereotypical "Chosen one"/"Golden child". She was way too uni-dimensional, she was mostly ok with everything happening so I am not sure what I was supposed to root for. And even when she learn the truth about the Director she just shrugged and kept going until Brenda had to metaphorically smack her over her head with what this meant. By that time I was mostly bored and didn't buy her "revenge" arc. Fromzero to finish, she just felt like the wale, there was no character development,
Unimpressed with the lead character I couldn't muster any interest for the secondary ones either : Vita's mother is just...there. I don't understand why Vita never ask her any real, deep questions about the whole situation. James was slightly interesting for a minute but he just went' nowhere as a character. Plus the way he obsessed about Vita felt creepy and their relationship was so unprofessional never could buy it. As for "hot" Evan and that weak ass triangle, it was just that : a weak ass triangle. There was absolutely no chemistry either between Vita and James or Vita and Evan. I mean even the "villain" was boring !
The other major weak point of the story is that there is hardly any "world building" : 80% of the story happen indoors and inside some alternate "plane" where Vita and her companions spend there time wandering around looking for who knows what for no actual reason, playing soldiers more than anything else. We hardly get to know how's life in the Colony, and the brief scenes depicting Vita visiting and "living" in real life can't make up for the lack of any substantial context to the Gemini project and everything. I am still scratching my head wondering what is the actual point of all that plane jumping. And then the "big" confrontation just fizzled and the "scandal" was resolved in 5 minutes and then, out of nowhere...cliffhanger ! Like, really??!!! SMDH...I mean, it wasn't BAD bad, but I sure won't be waiting frantically to read about what happen to bland emerald eyed "curvy in all the right places" (yeah, the author managed to put THAT sentence in there, out of nowhere! Lame!) may be a little bit of a WOC Vita and her blond Thor. Just meh.