Bingo Square: Vs (Enemies to lovers; assassin vs target; also, person vs dystopian, authoritarian government)
I had fun reading this one – the story kept me engaged and turning the pages as I went, and it was just a fun, turn your brain off kind of read. It probably helped that earlier this year, I had read another dystopian novel Conform which irritated me so much that this just felt more developed in comparison. Also, I’m sure the multiple POV approach helped, too. The world felt dark and grimy, there were multiple different factions at play, adding just enough detail and color to the world to keep it interesting (even if it was all the usual parties one might expect from a story like this).
Having said all that, this is also one of those books where if you think about it too hard, some of the decisions and plot points fall apart but it had me hooked while I was in the middle of it. For example, the amount of beatings that Greyson and Shadera take, only to be back to fighting shortly after really make it seem like this world has some kind of accelerated healing (it isn’t immediate, Shadera spends some time recovering but it’s still rather supernatural feeling how quickly they are back to doing hand to hand combat after gunshots, broken bones etc).
It’s hard to get into the biggest issue I had around the world building without getting into spoiler territory but while as readers, we are told this system and structure has been in place for quite a while, it ultimately all felt too dependent on one man, Greyson’s father. It makes sense not to kill the leader if the system will easily continue without him, but I’m not entirely sure the novel quite made the case that the system wasn’t entirely dependent on one man’s enforcement and existence.
I’m absolutely still going to read the sequel next year because as I said, I was entertained and I liked quite a few of the supporting characters so want to see what happens next.
