Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I keep searching for the words to describe how the layers carefully crafted in this book came together. Earlier today, I bought this book after seeing it compared to both Hunger Games and Harry Potter. A lofty and impossible comparison I thought. No way. Then, I heard from one of my daughter's friends that it was a---maz--ing. (The word had more than three syllables, I kid you not. Possibly seven syllables.) So, I thought that I'd just check it out before passing it on to my daughter, but I couldn't put it down. I just finished it after reading it in one straight sitting. The layer-upon-layer build in this book was brilliant. Every little detail felt like it was leading somewhere to something. The author used an unreliable narrator--you knew that the first person narration was hiding more than he was revealing. Every so often, you'd catch a hint of this and it would drag you breathless through more pages as you waited for the reveal that was building and building. I thought there was no way it could live up to the internal hype I was creating. Telling me a book is like either Harry Potter or Hunger Games is dooming me to disappointment--I thought. This book delivered on this promise. I liked how it kept me guessing because I knew there was something that I didn't know...some big secret that all these smaller secrets and hints were leading to. I kept mentally guessing...and I was completely wrong and the ending blew me away. It's not really like Harry Potter--though Sage is clever, young (14 or 15), and wonderfully imperfect and the writing is equally as brilliant. It's not quite like Hunger Games, but it kept me reading with the same anxious anticipation. It was more hopeful and the end of this first book more satisfying. It was also significantly less violent in my opinion. It was somewhat like Eragon with the intelligence of Ender's Game with a narration that reminded me of Odd Thomas. But, wait, it wasn't like any of them--it was just itself and it was exceptional. Also, of note, this may be a book in a series, but this book can stand alone. The ending was enough even if I'm anxious to read another book in the series. This book felt complete and not just a portion of a series. That feels like a rare thing these days in YA books. For Parents: there was no profanity, adult situations, or gratuitous violence. As far as violence goes, if you felt comfortable letting your child read Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire--this is comparable.