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4 stars because we need books about Africa, and about Black people, and police violence and refugees. Worth a read for that reason alone :)

Enjoyable novel otherwise. It's fast-paced and there's real suspense throughout, with the two main characters locked in an impossible situation. I'm not the right audience for YA, as a rule, and my criticism mainly has to do with personal tastes... My problem with much YA (it was the case here) is that, in trying to make characters relatable, it very often glosses over cultural differences to make everyone as much like a contemporary American teenager as possible. This isn't to say you can't write good books with that premise! I had fun reading this one, but the reason why I'm attracted to SFF in the first place (books that create new environments, cultures, ways of thinking about the world and society and the self...) were absent; it was mostly like reading a romp featuring modern young people in costume.

Still, the characters were sympathetic, the concept excellent and the book a lot of fun on the whole. Even though the particulars were often predictable (ah, the sexual-tension-laden fighting lesson scene...) I absolutely hadn't guessed how it would end.

For people who enjoy that kind of fiction, it's well worth picking up book 2.