Vi knows the Rule: Girls don’t walk with boys, and they never even think about kissing them. But no one makes Vi want to break the Rules more than Zenn…and since the Thinkers have chosen him as Vi’s future match, how much trouble can one kiss cause? The Thinkers may have brainwashed the rest of the population, but Vi is determined to think for herself.

But the Thinkers are unusually persuasive, and they’re set on convincing Vi to become one of them…starting by brainwashing Zenn. Vi can’t leave Zenn in the Thinkers’ hands, but she’s wary of joining the rebellion, especially since that means teaming up with Jag. Jag is egotistical, charismatic, and dangerous–everything Zenn’s not. Vi can’t quite trust Jag and can’t quite resist him, but she also can’t give up on Zenn.

This is a game of control or be controlled. And Vi has no choice but to play.

I have to warn you – I have a lot of issues with this book – I wouldn’t normally review a book I had this many problems with but it was sent to me by the publisher so I feel an obligation to review it. I’ll start with the bad so I can end of on a good note, shall I?

Here we go…my first problem with it (and many other reviews I’ve read have said the same thing) is that there simply was not enough information about this future world the characters were living in. I know it’s pretty common, especially in this genre, to just drop hints about the dystopian world and let the reader figure it out for themselves and I’m ok with that but there simply was not enough information in this novel to piece it together. I had a really hard time following the plot because I just didn’t have enough background information.

Which brings me to my next point. There were times when the story didn’t make any sense. I’d go back and reread and reread and still not have a clue what had just happened. Added to this the pacing of the novel was just a little strange. At times it seemed there was so much action packed into a few pages that I could hardly follow and then things would slow right down with a whole bunch of navel gazing on the part of the main character. All of that just added to the sense of confusion I felt.

My last complaint is the characters. They were so bloody annoying. (And yes, they too were confusing.) Vi and Jag were the worst but most likely because they were the main characters. They seemed to get upset at each other over tiny little things and then leaving each other in the middle of the desert or where ever. And they fought and made up and fought and made up and fought and made up and…you get the picture. It was so ridiculous and it got old really fast. And the other characters didn’t make any sense to me either. They didn’t seem real and they were all over the place.

Now for the good. I did like the book and I thought it had tons of potential to be an awesome book. I really think a major rewrite or even just a really strict going over with a red pen could have made this book fantastic. It just seemed like a first draft – not a final published draft. Oh and my favourite thing about the book? The cover – it jumped out at me as soon as I opened the package it came in – isn’t it beautiful?

Overall my feeling after finished this novel is one of confusion and I really wish I could have understood the plot better because I think it could have been a really great book. But that’s just my opinion and there are plenty of other reviewers out there that loved the book.