How to do a non-spoilery review of this? I think I'll have to save a real review until my next read - which won't be long from now - when the book is actually out and I can squee and discuss with more people, so here are some bookpushy highlights that hopefully don't give too much away:

I wrote this on the Booksmugglers On The Smuggler's Radar post this week (cleaned for spelling errors :P)

It’s teenage apocalypse without dystopia! It’s got humour, it’s got an action plot of breathlessness, it’s got multi-racial characters of all sexual persuasions (it’s even got a cross-dressing, suave, successful actor – who doesn’t look like, but whose vibe reminded *me* of Tim Curry as Franknfurter when he’s at his charismatic best). There’s love in the face of utter adversity, there’s sacrifice, there’s a Three Musketeers leitmotif.

BRILLIANT BOOK! If the world were fair it should catapult Andrea Höst into fans' minds as much as Code Name Verity did Elizabeth Wein this year.

That last bit was added because I cried three times after the big plot reveal in the last third of the book and it was well earned crying because the book really grabbed me by the jugular and shook me - which is why I enjoyed reading the epilogue especially. Otherwise the two books share great characterisation and female friendship, but everything else is different (so fellow CNV lovers, don't expect this to be a WW2 exploration of the awesomeness of female friendship - it's a sf exploration of the awesomeness of friendship in general, female friendship included)

This is an ensemble book - like the Touchstone Trilogy but more so, even though we have a clear main heroine. The people Madeleine meets become incredibly important to her AND all contribute to the story and everyone we share more than one scene with is their own person, even when they're fairly quiet.

This book is told from third person and is not a diary-entry book which makes the action and dialogue more prominent and more immediate. It's also somewhat a love-letter to Sydney.

And during the build-up I could NOT believe that the page amount of the book could ever lead to a satisfying conclusion and not feel cut-off, but the author really managed it for my money.

I've read all her published books and for my money, this is the tightest book she's written so far (bear in mind that I'm a reader for character and emotion so plot and action fine-tuning usually fly past me). It's unputdownable from at least the point that the core group get together for good till the end.

It would be a GREAT movie or TV series. The sf bits of the story hint at a consistent world of their own, but the focus is square on the group of friends in adversity. And it's an encouraging book with an ending of sweetness mixed with a deeply-felt dollop of bitter to remember.

ETA: And a very big thank you to Andrea Höst, who sent me this not only early, but in response to me making her aware of about 10 mistakes left in 800+ pages of Touchstone Trilogy (no longer, because she's incorporated the corrections by now) which I had sent without being asked, may I add. A class act all around!