** spoiler alert ** Good worldbuilding, and decent characterization. The book feels a little young to me, but that might just be because it - and each of its chapters - is so short.

I'm actually pleased with the twist the rally takes - strange for me, as I typically like things to be less dark and tragic rather than more. I guess it seemed like things were going too straightforwardly. I especially like that Jen's father tells Luke what I'd suspected: that both the Government's books (capitalization the author's, not mine) and the underground articles are skewed, so neither is exactly the truth. I'd been afraid that the story was going in a really heavy-handed "population control BAD" direction, but it turns out that's just Jen's bias, which makes a lot of sense.

(Similarly, it's cool when Luke learns that the Government doesn't have the kind of near-total omniscience propaganda had led his family to believe - that they don't automatically hear everything you say on a phone and see everything you type on a computer - and cool again when he finds out with Jen's abandoned chat room that oops, sometimes they ARE watching.)

I guess I also didn't want to see Jen be entirely successful because, while I think she's an admirable character, she's hotheaded and, to be honest, a tiny bit obnoxiously over-capable. Hacking Government websites, making bribes, ordering people around . . . And though Luke only thinks of her as a show-off when he's angry, I think she kind of is one. I can sympathize with being a teen girl who doesn't love getting dragged out for clothes shopping, but to describe the whole life-risking experience of an illegal trip to the mall as "really boring" to someone who's never gotten to go a block from his house? Jen's either a show-off or so privileged as to dabble in being obliviously annoying. I think the author's going mostly for the latter, since there's a time or two when Jen is more obvious about viewing things through the lens of being a privileged Baron: saying that of course, "everyone" has security guards, and so on.

Of course, I'd only hoped (and assumed, especially since I know this is the first of a series) that the rally wouldn't go off without a hitch and do everything that Jen wanted, even though her goals are just and fair and a peaceful rally should be a way to accomplish them. I was jarred to hear that she and the others were actually gunned down - and jarred again to hear that her parents got her body, meaning that her death is probably for real. Sad as her death is - and I did almost cry at one point - I really hope she doesn't surface later as having somehow tricked her way through everything and survived to become some kind of underground rebel heroine.

As of halfway through the book, I was doubting I'd read the rest of the series, but now I think I'll at least pick up the next one. I'm impressed with the author's commitment to the idea, and curious about what Luke/Lee will find at the boarding school where he's headed at the end. (Also, whether the author is going to switch to calling him Lee in the next book, or what.) Plus, this took me, like, two and a half hours to read maybe, so I think I can manage another.

As a side note, the names are interesting. There's the whole Matthew-Mark-Luke-John thing, but then there's also General Sherman and Luke's new name, Grant Lee. So, yeah, stuff going on with the names. I'll be curious to see how the Barons' names look in the next book.