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Sapphic Hunger Games? Say less

This was such an interesting read. It had a lot of familiar concepts (it is very clearly inspired by The Hunger Games--as the author's note even states), however with a fresh spin that I had never seen before. I really enjoyed the sci-fi elements of this. I specifically found Melinoë to be an extremely interesting main character, and the politics and details of her android-adjacent life intrigued me from the start. I wish this book had spent more time diving into these topics, as it was by far the most interesting part, in my opinion.

I found Inesa's family dynamic to be very interesting as well. I specifically loved seeing the brother/sister dynamic--it was a sweet reprieve from the otherwise tense story, while also adding some stakes.

Unfortunately, while I understood enough to get by what was going on with the Gauntlet, I needed a lot more details on this tournament than this provided. I was left with a lot of questions that I never really got the answer to. For example--contestants are allowed to enlist outside help. I feel like this begs the question of why people as a whole do not rally around a contestant. The answer seemingly is that people like the entertainment of being able to watch this on TV. However, you cannot convince me that Inesa is the only person in this whole society that sees a problem with this. It's very clear that many do. So why? The corporation leading the Gauntlet did not seem powerful enough to rule over this entire society. I have a lot of political questions that I wish this answered, as I was left feeling like things were kind of glossed over/many plot-holes were left for the sake of a quicker pace for the story. Similarly, there were multiple things that were mentioned once, never to be mentioned or become relevant again. For example, Inesa being a streamer at the start of the novel? Never relevant again--why did we have a whole scene of her streaming to followers we never heard of again?

I also have to say, while I enjoyed the love story (who doesn't love a good sapphic, against-all-odds love story), I don't fully understand why they liked each other so much. It seems like they developed feelings because the other was nice to them, and that's pretty much it. And let's be real here: I ate it up, I don't need it to make logical sense to enjoy a fun romance. But I feel like if all it takes to fall in love and throw your career and potentially life away is for someone to be nice to you... the bar is in hell.

All of that said though, I still flew through this, and never once did I find myself bored, so credit where credit is due. It won't stand out among favorites in my mind, but it was still a good time and I do still recommend it, especially if you love Ava Reid's writing or if you love a tournament/trials storyline.

3.75 stars rounded up

Thanks so much to HarperCollins and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!