What I Liked
I had trouble putting this book down. It's so confusing for the first three-quarters that I desperately wanted to know what was going on. Page after page I would turn until I ended up going to bed late on a night before work.

The story is captivating. There are some intensely gruesome and macabre scenes, but somehow this only made me feel more immersed into the book. In truth, I've never read anything like this before.

The ending completely shocked me, and I actually really liked it. I'm usually pretty good at predicting endings, and since I didn't pinpoint this one whatsoever, I was pleasantly surprised. I plan to buy the second one when it comes out.

(This isn't the best review I've written... because I'm trying to follow Sigler's request and not share spoilers.)

What I Didn't Like
There was not a lot of depth to the characters. They all begin as twelve-year-olds, and I think Sigler struggles to understand how twelve-year-old kids communicate with each other. The flat dialogue flattens conversations, which flattens the characters.

There is too much of a focus on beauty, in my opinion. Everyone in this story is stunningly gorgeous (

Spoiler

except for the monsters

). Conveniently too-small clothes, rippling muscles, faces that draw everyone in with awe and envy. I have to say... considering the trauma into which these children have wakened, why are they focused #1 on each other's beauty? It doesn't make sense to me.

Spoiler

Also, I have trouble with the fact that these kids are 12 in 20-year-old bodies. It's as if Sigler was trying to make this both a middle grade and young adult book by making it about little kids with hot, grown-up figures... but I want nothing to do with reading about a young girl's boobs or about how attractive a 12-year-old boy is. I don't even want to go there.