My thanks to NetGalley and Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine Books for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.

DNF at about 6%. What turned me off, the casual drug use and what seemed to be the H being the high school drug dealer. I'm not into glamorizing drug use. Yes, I know it happens with the high school age range, younger even. It doesn't need to be romanticized in YA reading material.

Which is sad, as the pandemic with a possible Government conspiracy plot line could be a good hook, though possibly a little too "now" right now. I admit, the conspiracy theory plot line made me roll my eyes a bit. If I wanted that, I would just turn on the TV or pay attention to what is on the internet.

This book was published in 2014, so it isn't trying to ride the wave of what is happening now, it was just a little future looking and I happened to pick it up now. If I had picked it up when it first came out, my reaction to that plot line would have been different I think.

So, not a book I would really recommend, due to the drug use and selling. In the first 6%, we see the dealer snorting something and then selling a bag of pills and weed to two fellow high schoolers. The first page, we see the h wake up and say something along the line of she needed uppers. Not cool. Maybe it's real and I'm just an old fart, but it isn't something I would recommend to the YA demographic or want to continue reading myself. Might be a good fit for an adult reader.

1, due to the glamorized drug usage, stars.

I requested this one back in the day as I had every intention of reading it. However, its been years and I still haven't gotten around to it and while I feel guilty at not reviewing a book I think that I need to admit to myself that I won't be reading this one anytime soon....if at all.

This book is not for me. I made it through a few chapters but I was very confused by what was happening and not drawn in at all. There were a ton of characters introduced at first and I wasn't feeling any of them, was not pulled in despite the high-octane premise, and just couldn't make forward progress. I think part of my disinterest and frustration came from the confusion and disorder of the first few chapters- I'm okay with being thrown into the action, but I need stronger characterization and a general sense of what's happening and where I am. Similarly, despite some crazy stuff happening plot-wise, it never felt exciting or like there was a lot on the line.

Alaya Dawn Johnson is a fantastic writer....I just don't think this story was for me. There's no denying that world-building is well done, the characters well-written, and the plot well-paced. It just didn't particularly hold my interest, and I think it was just that the book didn't click with me.

While I love reading about my hometown, this plot got WAY too convoluted to the point that I couldn't follow it at the end. Sad to DNF it

Best alaya book to date. Not even a stromg sci fi fan (prefer fantasy) but I loved it