Since this is the final book, the war that is raging between the Invalids in the Wilds and the Cureds in Society is more fierce than ever. Lena has spent so much time running away from Portland and trying to forget her life there, yet this book brings her right back to where book one started - Portland - where she met and fell in love with Alex, and where she was forced to leave Hana, and most importantly Grace, behind.
Challenge: This book is told from two different points of view. The chapters rotate between Lena and Hana, which is a great text structure, but it also complicates how time plays into the order of events.
Curriculum Connection & Themes: Just like in Pandemonium, Lena is able to speak more forcefully about why it is okay to let your emotions in and choose who you love, which makes her a stronger female character than she was in the first novel. However, I still don't think she is an extremely strong female character. She has grown, which if a student were to read all three books, the idea of dynamic characters could be explored and analyzed.
Again, this is a book that I would use to explore imagery because Lauren Oliver spends a lot of time describing trivial events in such vivid ways that it really is a great example of "show, don't tell."
Lexile: 740L
Interest Level: Middle School +
Controversial Scenes/Content: This book had the most inappropriate language of the three in the trilogy. It was not over the top, but characters frequently used the s-word, in contrast to the other two books in which there was rarely any fowl language at all.
Rating: 4.5/5