Juliette has been locked in a mental institution that is basically a jail. She hasn’t touched anyone for 264 days. Then she gets a roommate. And everything changes.

Those who say this is a romance and not a dystopia are right, albeit a romance set in a dystopian world. Still, there were some compelling seeds planted here in terms of the world, and I’ll be interested to see how they grow. Right now, any political motivations are all kinds of vague, and pretty obviously transparent as plot devices. Also, if it is not explained later in the series why certain people can touch Juliette. I call BS. I was excited because this seemed like a very interesting obstacle to work around throughout the series, but then nope. Look, everyone who might need to can conveniently touch Juliette okay?

And okay, this is a romance. But can I say, I was kind of underwhelmed? First, it was a little too close to insta-love for me. These two people went to school together for a bit a together a longish (for you know, a world going to hell in a handbasket) time ago, and they barely talked, but they’ve held on to the memory of each other and are in L-O-V-E. Okay, fine. There’s some history there. Give me some time to watch it develop and come to fruition. Especially before the big choices. And give me some depth in my male lead. I want to like him too. Like, okay, yay, he’s a stand-up big brother. But that comes kinda late. What else can you give me? I mean, right now the underdeveloped, unmotivated bad guy may be the most interesting character. Surely my leads will grow as the series goes on? Maybe not.

I also had a lot of questions about female agency throughout the book, and I think this may be one of the things I’m supposed to be thinking about. For instance, one of the only people to be able to touch Juliette is also one of the only people that may physically assault Juliette, and is the one to attempt to control her. What do Juliette’s powers ultimately mean? Give me some time and maybe I can look into this novel more closely from a feminist lens. Or maybe I should not do that. Maybe that is a bad idea.

What really kept me going in this novel was Mafi’s almost poetic prose. She often employs strikethroughs. Supposedly, this is because the novel is Juliette’s notebook. Although, I don’t really buy that she would strikethrough in a notebook what is deemed worthy of a strikethrough in the novel, but whatever. Also, where did this diary/notebook/journal come from? She’s given gruel once a day and has to scrounge for soap but she just has a journal lying around in that cell? I need more information. It’s compelling and was fresh enough to keep me reading. Does it always work perfectly? No, but like I said, it kept me interested, even if I was way more interested in this poetic prose as a narrative device on Mafi’s part than any diary writing by Juliette.

There are a lot of interesting pieces here. I can only hope the rest of the series puts them together in a satisfying way.