– Customer review on 02/12/2011

I loved this.

There's a great vibe to this book - which doesn't sag in momentum - the plot kept moving forward making it an energetic and captivating read. The prose is just lovely, clean and fresh, I'm a fan.

I adore Rosie. Mostly, I love that she stuffs things up a fair bit. She does things she's not supposed to - she's not always thinking straight. I love teens (and people) who have the best of intentions but somehow still manage to screw up and fudge their way along. Ultimately, she's one tough girl that I care oh-so-immensely about. She's inventive, and a strong protag. You will love her :)

Pip. I'll add him to the top of my crush-worthy list of fictional characters. He is just done so well. I can't pigeon hole him at all. He's a Feral and not what you expect and he keeps not being what you expect until you kinda don't know what to expect anymore. He's funny, clever, hot, mischievous and infuriating.

I was initially caught up by the mystery of the box, and how Rosie opens it and triggers a domino chain of events of seemingly never-ending catastrophic events (kinda like this run-on sentence). Then, the plot deepens, and twists and gradually I found myself invested not just in the story that was unfolding, but the characters. by the end, i was deeply invested in all the main characters lives. They have such intriguing histories and painful pasts and there's secrets, mysteries, and most of all - a huge betrayal. Ouch.

There's torture and freaky stuff going down on Mars... and other sci-fi stuff that I can't coherently relate but made sense when I read it, haha. (It's 500 years in the future: half set in Australia, then space and finally on Mars).

Boys will love this too. Plus, it would make an ideal classroom read. One of those non-boring high school texts that will captivate and spark a whole range of discussion and debate.

It's the first in a series. I'm really hanging out to see what happens next, hey :)