Shaykitteh's World of Books

I admit to being a little bit disappointed in this book. The book starts in the future, introducing us to the Queen, who seems to be a beloved ruler in a world recovering from a civil war. The majority of the book is the Queen's flashback to life in a maximum security prison for young ladies.

What disappointed me is that the description made it seem like the world would be falling apart outside of the prison, with some big reveal expected. Unfortunately, the only sign of outside problems are money shortages in the prison and people quitting... Neither of which seems like a big deal, honestly. Later in the book, there are signs of larger problems, such as the staff not getting paid, but I was expecting something a little more drastic. It all just seems a little underwhelming.

The good news is that the story inside the prison - mostly the dynamics of the prisoners with the staff - is interesting and kept me reading the book. While the beginning is a little slow, it picks up toward the middle and kept going until the end.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.