I love dystopic fiction and this one definitely fits into that category. It is a dark and ugly world these kid inhabit and they have to struggle through it. I loved it. It was gripping and unique. I loved that it was a stand alone novel...so few books are written that way these days that it is refreshing to find an author that can write just one book about something. I really enjoyed the revolution plot. I thought the multiple narrators really brought the story to life. My only real quibbles are that I could have done without the romantic subplots and the epilogue. They did seem a little forced...are you really going to fall in love with the first boy/girl you see for the rest of your life?? seriously? And the epilogue really was not necessary at all. I don't mind an epilogue if it imparts something that really ties up the story, but this one didn't and was just wasted space. I thought the end of the last chapter was enough to tie things up. Other than those minor things it was great. Loved the cart horses (what great characters), loved Milos's storyline, loved all the minor characters. Great book.

I wasn't sure about this book but am glad I bought it.

Le lore m'a intéressé, il y a de bonnes idées, mais je n'ai pas réussi à construire une empathie avec les personnages, ce qui m'a empêché de me soucier de leur sort

I had to put this book down after page 250. I gave it multiple shots throughout, but the storyline just moves WAY too slow once the big "event" (I won't spoil it for those who haven't read it yet) occurs. The whole love angle of the book reminds me way too much of Twilight minus the vampire part, which is something I didn't like.

Three stars is generous, but this is because I was never sure if the problems I was experiencing were becaues things got lost in translation (from French) or just not fabulous writing. I found myself skimming the last sections just to find out what happened.
My biggest difficulty with the narrative was the author's habit of recapping the story all along the way. Every time someone meets a new character, or meets back up with a new character, the narrative would launch into a sort of list of what occurred. It got terribly annoying, as if the author didn't trust the reader to remember the stuff. But as I said, perhaps this was a translation issue. I don't know. It's a dystopian fiction novel, but not one of my top ten. Oh, and there was also way too much romance in it for my taste. I really don't gravitate to romance plots - just too gooey and mushy for me, and they usually seem so fake. The last good romance I encountered in a novel was that between Katniss and Petr in The Hunger Games.

Actual rating 3.5
I feel this book would have been much better if it was stretched over 2 books. There wasn't much time for character development and the plot was good but rushed. I still enjoyed it since it was an easy and fast read.