DNF at 25%.

This was so boring that I fell asleep twice reading it. Pages upon pages of exposition with absolutely nothing happening. The dialogs are so clunky they are painful to read.

The protagonist is rather annoying and immature. For a 21 year old refugee who grew up in wartime, she acts like a high school prima instead. Sorry, but hard times mature people much quicker than that.

Also, the author needs to learn how to show, not tell. The writing style is so bland that the book (and the protagonist whose point of view we follow) has no distinctive "voice", which probably didn't help with me empathizing with her.

The action finally started at the 20% mark, but it was tepid and just as boring. So I'm out.

PS: I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A grim snapshot of a dystopian future for humanity.
The bleak short story shows the lengths humanity will go to survive (recruiting teens into the military), the world’s violent reaction to creatures it can’t understand or comprehend, and the fallout of trauma and mutations sustained by the next generation.

“Mad”’s story is one of survival and the first 3/4 are fast paced and interesting. Things get a little confusing once she has a close encounter with the invasive alien species, but the ending is great.

Thank you to the author, NetGalley & Backlit PR for a copy.

Madeline was just a normal teenager when the word was evaded. Things have changed for the worst so when she is able to enlist to fight the enemy she jumps at the chance. She is the younger member of the team as she is only years old and she hasn't even seen battle. On their daily trips she gets to see what the enemy can do and she wonders if she is going to get the chance to kill as many as she can.
On the one trip out things don't go well and she has to make the choice to save herself or to be taken over by one of them. She did what she had to save herself but she no longer has a place in the team.
What will she do now as all she wanted was to fight?
A good read.
Madeline is a unique young woman who believes in her mission but I wonder why she always wants to fight authority? She had to make a hard choice and yet she did it.
Thank you Netgalley & the publisher for the copy. This is my voluntary review

This is an entertaining book! Once I settled into it I found it amusing. I fell in love with the characters and the world the author created.