When she inadvertently saves the life of Prince Kai, she becomes embroiled in the Purging Trials, a competition to commemorate the sickness that killed most of the kingdom’s Ordinaries.

From Courtney Summers, the New York Times bestselling author of the 2019 Edgar Award Winner and breakout hit, Sadie, comes a sensational follow-up -- another pulls-no-punches thriller about an aspiring young journalist determined to save her sister from a cult. The writing was fantastic, the characters were insightful and brimming with depth, and the theme was topical and on point. My heart breaks every time I think about where she’s placed right now and I hope, I can only pray that she’s not alone wherever she really is.

Luckily, I have enough unread books in my house to last a least five years and so I am going to to look at social-distancing as a gift of time. the ending was well rounded and all, but the 100 or so pages before the resolution were really dull and could’ve been cut so much shorter to not bore the reader to death.

Tiger obsesses over the last words she screamed to her mom, “Why can’t you ever just fucking leave me alone?The themes of grief, anger and isolation are tackled so sensitivity and the characters feel so real that you end up hurting for them. I wouldn’t have it any other way, because even though it was emotionally hard for me to process everything, by taking my time I think I got the most out of it. Are you a teacher, librarian or bookseller, and keen to have one of our authors appear at an event, or just want to know more about our books?

As she slowly begins to make a way for herself, Tiger creates a new kind of family, some related and some not, who will love her and travel forward with her. it was heartfelt, real and powerful, but i felt no connection to the characters and i just wasn’t interested in the story; i had no desire to continue. You can lose your possessions, your social circles, your carrier or your dignity, patience, reputation. My grandmother had a garden full of plants, a house filled with fishes and turtles and she loved hosting.This story hauls you into its heart to live the pain in all its careening, messy, and miraculous glory. It never goes away because when you lose someone you lose some parts of yourselves and you turn into a different person. trigger warnings death and grief, death of a mother, domestic abuse, violence, abortion, child abuse, suicidal thoughts, mentions of suicide, mentions of gun violence, fat shaming, etc.