The only word that comes to mind when I think of this book and this series, is "beautiful".

The writing is beautiful; written in first person, present tense. The prose is lyrical, sometimes poetic. The dialogue is sweet, endearing and often highly amusing. I've never really had any great love for present tense narrative before now. It's so rare, I've only actually come across it once before. With that series, it drove me completely nuts. With this, I barely gave it a second thought because it just flows from Hand in such an effortless way, that it's clear to me why she chose it. Because it fits her style, and it really makes the writing stand out to me, but in a good way this time. It helps you to feel everything Clara feels right there in real time; every decision that's made you can understand her reasons for- even if you don't necessarily like the decision- because you've just watch her struggle to make it. This means you can really empathise with her.

The characters are also beautiful. And I don't just mean outer appearance, although they are that too, but that's almost irrelevant in this series. It is a very character driven piece. I'm actually surprised how much I like it as, action wise, it is on the gentle side and I am a card-toting action lover. But I'm just so darn in love with these amazing characters, these incredible young people, and the confusing, heartbreaking journey they are on. They are each at a pivotal time in their lives; at an age where life-changing decisions are often made, but for these guys, those decisions are so much bigger. The conflict Clara is going through is so fascinating, and other parts of it were simply gut-wrenching. I admit to crying like a baby for a large portion of this novel

I haven't mentioned much in terms of plot but I'm sure other reviewers will fill you in on that score. But I will say there were a number of shocks, surprises and big reveals in this book. There were also some big changes- those darn decisions I mentioned earlier- which I'm not sure I'm totally on board with yet, but I will definitely be waiting with breathless anticipation for the next book to see where that leads us to.

I would recommend this series to all. Young, old, YA lover or not, because it is simply...wait for it...beautiful :)