The Girl Who Dared to Think

The Girl Who Dared #1

by Bella Forrest

How do you fight an enemy when they're inside your mind?

A gargantuan glass-walled tower looms over a deadly wilderness. They say it's all that's left.

The Tower's survival is humanity's survival, and each must serve it faithfully...

Twenty-year-old Liana Castell must be careful what she thinks. Her life is defined by the number on her wristband -- a rating out of ten awarded based on her usefulness and loyalty to the Tower, and monitored by a device in her skull. A device that reports forbidden thoughts.

Liana is currently a four, the lowest possible acceptable score, and despite her parents' perfect scores of ten, she struggles to increase it. Rebellious ideas come all too easily, and resentfulness seems part of her being. She is an overseer-in-training, but her future will be dark if she cannot raise her worth...

Threes require drug treatment.
Twos are isolated.
Ones disappear.

When Liana's worst nightmare comes to pass and she drops to a three, desperation spurs her down a path few dare to tread. A chance encounter with a cocky young man whose shockingly dissident attitude toward the Tower couldn't possibly have earned him the perfect "ten" on his wrist, sets her on a trail to save herself--even at the risk of dropping lower.

Stalking the young man seemed like a simple enough task, but after events take an unexpected twist, Liana finds herself taking a treacherous dive into the darkest depths of the Tower... and the decades' old secrets buried within.

In a society where free thinking can make you a criminal, one girl dares to try...

An unforgettable tale brimming with suspense, mystery and romance - The Girl Who Dared to Think will thrill fans of The Gender Game , Divergent & The Hunger Games.

Genres: Dystopia, Young Adult, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Romance, Audiobook

402 pages, Paperback

First published August 9, 2017

About the author

UPDATE MARCH 11, 2024:

BELLA IS BACK!

*** New, updated online store at https://BellaForrest.com

*** New books coming soon

*** Possible Film/TV series coming soon

*** Stay up to date by joining our e-mail list at https://BellaForrest.com/join

###

Bella Forrest is a lover of fantasy, romance, action, and mystery infused stories with twists you don’t see coming. She has sold over fifteen million books since her first novel was published in 2012.

Check out her website for a full list of her books: https://BellaForrest.com

Official Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/BellaForrest...

Here's a list of some of Bella's books:

DARKLIGHT

Darklight (Book 1)
Darkthirst (Book 2)
Darkworld (Book 3)
Darkblood (Book 4)
Darktide (Book 5)
Darkbirth (Book 6)
Darkfall (Book 7)
Darkwilds (Book 8)
Darkhunt (Book 9)

A LOVE THAT ENDURES (Trilogy)
A Love that Endures 1
A Love that Endures 2
A Love that Endures 3

HARLEY MERLIN AND THE SECRET COVEN

Harley Merlin and the Secret Coven (Book 1)
Harley Merlin and the Mystery Twins (Book 2)
Harley Merlin and the Stolen Magicals (Book 3)
Harley Merlin and the First Ritual (Book 4)
Harley Merlin and the Broken Spell (Book 5)
Harley Merlin and the Cult of Eris (Book 6)
Harley Merlin and the Detector Fix (Book 7)
Harley Merlin and the Challenge of Chaos (Book 8)
Harley Merlin and the Mortal Pact (Book 9)
Finch Merlin and the Fount of Youth (Book 10)
Finch Merlin and the Lost Map (Book 11)
Finch Merlin and the Djinn's Curse (Book 12)
Finch Merlin and the Locked Gateway (Book 13)
Finch Merlin and the Forgotten Kingdom (Book 14)
Finch Merlin and the Everlasting Vow (Book 15)
Finch Merlin and the Blood Tie (Book 16)
Finch Merlin and the Legend of the Luminary
Persie Merlin and Leviathan's Gift (Book 18)
Persie Merlin and the Door to Nowhere (Book 19)
Persie Merlin and the Witch Hunters (Book 20)
Persie Merlin and the Dying Song (Book 21)

THE CHILD THIEF

The Child Thief (Book 1)
Deep Shadows (Book 2)
Thin Lines (Book 3)
Little Lies (Book 4)
Ghost Towns (Book 5)
Zero Hour (Book 6)

HOTBLOODS

Hotbloods (Book 1)
Hotbloods (Book 2): Coldbloods
Hotbloods (Book 3): Renegades
Hotbloods (Book 4): Venturers
Hotbloods (Book 5): Traitors
Hotbloods (Book 6): Allies
Hotbloods (Book 7): Invaders
Hotbloods (Book 8): Stargazers

THE GENDER GAME

The Gender Game (Book 1)
The Gender Secret (Book 2)
The Gender Lie (Book 3)
The Gender War (Book 4)
The Gender Fall (Book 5)
The Gender Plan (Book 6)
The Gender End (Book 7)

THE GIRL WHO DARED TO THINK

The Girl Who Dared to Think (Book 1)
The Girl Who Dared to Stand (Book 2)
The Girl Who Dared to Descend (Book 3)
The Girl Who Dared to Rise (Book 4)
The Girl Who Dared to Lead (Book 5)
The Girl Who Dared to Endure (Book 6
The Girl Who Dared to Fight (Book 7)

A SHADE OF VAMPIRE

Season 1: Derek & Sofia’s story

Books 1 to 7

Season 2: Rose & Caleb’s story

Books 8 to 16

Season 3: The Shade continues with a new hero...

Books 17 to 24

Season 4: A Clan of Novaks

Books 25 to 32

Season 5: A Dawn of Guardians

Books 33 to 41

Season 6: A Gift of Three

Books 42 to 50

Season 7: A Call of Vampires

Books 51 to 59

Season 8: A Voyage of Founders

Books 60 to 68

Season 9: A Birth of Fire

Books 69 to 77

Season 10: An Origin of Vampires
An Origin of Vampires (Book 78)
A Game of Death (Book 79)
A Veil of Dark (Book 80)
A Bringer of Night (Book 81)
A Circle of Nine (Book 82)
A Bender of Spirit (Book 83)
A Memory of Time (Book 84)
A Shard of Soul (Book 85)
A Break of Seals (Book 86)

Season 11: A Shade of Mystery
A Shade of Mystery (Book 87)
An Isle of Mirrors (Book 88)
A Sanctuary of Foes (Book 89)
A Ruler of Clones (Book 90)
A Gate of Light (Book 91)
A Dawn of Worlds (Book 92) ➜ Coming soon!

Reviews

[☘Misericordia☘ ⚡ϟ⚡⛈⚡☁ ❇️❤❣ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good dystopian world. 4.5 stars.
The_Girl_Who_Dared_to_Think

Q:
Once, we had dreamed of flying. Now, we didn’t seem to dream at all. (c)
Q:
We grew restless. We waged war. We won, and we lost, and we brought the earth to its flaming knees. The sun tore open our irradiated, weakened atmosphere, and life dwindled to ash. (c)
Q:
The Core was the heart of the Tower and the heart of Scipio… Our benevolent computer overlord. (c)
Q:
Alex had explained that the number was a representation of the concentration of positive versus negative thoughts in your brain. The net couldn’t exactly read direct thoughts but it read the feelings associated with them and, through some sort of complex algorithm, could perform an ongoing risk assessment on the citizen in question, to determine the likelihood of dissidents. The thing was, I didn’t consider myself dissident. (c)
Q:
My mother, overflowing with maternal instinct, had been willing to kill me right then and there. Excise the excess, so to speak. Scipio, however, ordained that I would live. For a time, my parents had thought that made me special. A chosen child, destined to lead the Knights into a glorious new era. (c) Oh, yeah, so unusual that the child on the receiving end of this treatment might turn out a tad disgruntled.
Q:
“Watch him carefully,” Gerome said, coming to my level.
I glanced at Dalton. He definitely didn’t strike me as the criminal sort, but then again I was a four. According to Scipio, I was pretty rife with dissident urges of my own. (c)
Q:
Was this really all there was to life? Rules, and grappling with your own brain out of the terror of ever, even for a moment, thinking something bad? (c)
Q:
It was interesting how they only ever made promises when they were promising to do something they wanted anyway… (c)
Q:
The only thing I could settle on was to pray that Scipio found some shred of mercy for me tonight. Or developed a sense of humor. Possibly even grew a soul or two. (c)
Q:
“I’m just not quite sure how to do that.”
“Well… you have to follow the Water Ways, my child.” (c)
Q:
Of course I needed an escort; I was a dangerous element. I couldn’t even learn in peace. (c)
Q:
I knew that if she were a Cog, she’d be a ten in no time flat. (c)
Q:
“You must feel very blessed,” he said after a moment… (с)
Q:
Could they see the stars? Were there clouds that formed in the sky like they formed in the greeneries, when the heat from outside caused the water to evaporate, the water in the air growing thicker and thicker until it burst into a gentle rain? Did they have grass? What did it feel like? What did it smell like? What did it taste like? (c)
Q:
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to tell the Knights,” Jasper said, his voice resplendent with irritation. “Believe me, I’ve noticed all sorts of problems in this system since being activated, and the doctors I am supposed to be assisting don’t seem to care about the suicide rate, or their own inability to keep some individuals’ numbers consistently high for extended periods of time.” He stopped suddenly, and I looked around, wondering if he’d maybe gone offline. “I guess I’m just saying that I was designed to save lives, not aid in murder. I’ll help you.” (c)

[Terry · Rating 5 out of 5]

A serial novel but ....GREAT!

I've been ranting lately about finding way too many "books" that are really long-winded chapter one thru ? of one book! This one? Worth it!!

I was initially intrigued by the title then learned of the Tower and its occupants. Since the first serial novel I'd read was "Wool" its been hard to find any that came close to it. Now? This woman is 'da bomb' as my kids used to say! Fabulous writing! Scenes are completely believable, characters filled out so well it's as if you know them and there's heaps of drama, action, mystery and romance!

Heading to book two now! With excited anticipation! Thanks, BELLA! Great read! I am 60, but the best science fiction out today? They say it's for Young Adult readers so maybe I'm young at heart! 😉😁

[Kevin Black · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was going to give 2 stars or maybe 3, but then, without warning, I was on the last page and facing a big surprise. Complete cliffhanger. I. Do. Not. Like. Cliffhangers.
Besides, the book clearly favors some rather annoying antipsychiatry views. See quotes.
Also, (disclaimer, I have never met the author, much less examined her, so I'm not claiming to make a diagnosis, but) I am quite suspicious that the author unknowingly sees the world from a Briquet's-ish / borderline-ish viewpoint. See quotes.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was pretty good especially considering how much I hated A Shade of Vampire. 🤷 I actually look forward to finding out what happens next in book 2.

[Alaina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book started off slow but after a couple of chapters got so much better. Liana is in a world where you are scored from 1-10, 10 being the best and 1 being the absolute worst. Liana is a 4, and has trouble climbing up the ladder but like all teenagers, rebellion comes so easily. When she becomes a 3, which is devastating for her, she has to figure a way to keep it a secret and to make her score get higher and quick. If I was in the world I doubt I'd live for very long, because I love to think and question about everything and in a society that frowns upon that would be really hard.

[Alexis Owen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just one long book of repetition. Dragging out tense scenes by describing the same thing in different ways over and over again. We get it, you have to save your friend, so go do it already, I’m bored! Maybe it’s just my mood, but this book was not good. The writing immature. I wanted to like it. I’m looking for something great, like the hunger games, but so far I’ve been disappointed. I can’t believe how many stars this book is getting. Boy, oh boy! One reviewer said just the opposite of what I said. I laughed out loud. Ugh.

[Biana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got mad. I was reading and I got mad. And I almost put the book down. But...a good dystopian should make you feel uncomfortable. In these times when we are starting to understand depression and mental illness as actually legit illnesses and not weak spirits, or whatever...it was so frustrating. But so believable. I'm glad I hung in there and finished the story. I am curious to see where the series goes from here...I have an idea...

[Melissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

more like the girl who dared to write this book

[Amine Khadyr · Rating 2 out of 5]

Realized that I amdefinitely not a young adult fiction person.

[Darren · Rating 3 out of 5]

*** Series Review up to book 2 ***

Amazing Post-Apocalyptic setting, bad plot advancement and frustrating lead character.

Having read quite a few of The Gender War series, the author has created another amazing world as the setting for this story but we have the same failings from the last series. The setting seems to be distorted and muddled to suit the plot advancement with facts brought up early in the book tend to be twisted or turn out to be untrue later on.

Spoiler Example:
It is alluded in the book that every tower resident has a net (digital implant) that is scanned to confirm their identity. Anybody that doesn't have one would cause alarms to go off. In book two it is confirmed that the nets are implanted when they are 15 years old.

Why don't all the 0-14 year old constantly set the alarms off? Wouldn't it be possible for Liana and her group to exploit this and move in these kid friendly areas?

In another part of the book, Liana and her friends are trying to escape the core when alarms are sounded.
Security screens block corridors trying to trap them ...... OK, sounds fair.
Security personnel rush towards them to apprehend them ..... Yep still good.
1st group of guards defeated, 2nd group approaches .... OK
Security screen descends to split their group, leaving one isolated.....HUH!!

They weren't moving, trapped in a dead end trying to force a door open and a screen is dropped in between them....why!!? wouldn't it stop the security forces following them?

It is a massive source of frustration to me as a reader, the author has created this world and has created all the rules within it. The least they can do is fact check their story and make sure it obeys their own rules.

Trying to empathise with the lead character is also frustrating when they fall from once disaster to the next making choices as if they had their eyes closed, fingers in their ears and left their brain at home.

At one stage in book 2, Liana is let into a room where 3 hostile guards have been knocked out. She is warned before entering that they will awaken soon.
So she enters and disarms them (good so far)
and then ..... nothing we stand and watch (why not restrain them?)

one of them is the big bad character that has already killed a friend and who she is tasked with killing. Not doing this is explained by saying alarms will be raised if he is killed and it will be difficult to get away. (of course knocking him out and then coming back in a couple of days to kill him would be much easier !!! same alarms going off, location probably not of your choosing etc...)

as she leaves the room she steps over one of them and .... (why would you ever step over someone who you expect to wake up without being prepared for them to move?? WALK ROUND!!!)

To summarise she ends up getting her butt kicked by all three of the knocked out bad guys at some point and then her boyfriend gets his brain fried because she stands and listens to the bad guy speech instead of zapping him with the pulse weapon she has in her hand)


The plot seems to bounce from one inept action after the other. With facts that support decisions at one point being contradicted later on. I find it very hard to read while i'm grinding my teeth at how the plot is advanced. The author also fails to describe the tower in any great detail and I find myself struggling to picturing any of it, which prevents me from fully immersing in the story.

In Summary, I love the setting and the inventiveness of the tower and it's ranking system and the different factions. I hate the inconsistent facts and the inept character actions which I blame on the bad plot advancement.

[Val. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I kinda want to see what happens next. Actual review to come.

[♦♣ queen of faerie ♠♥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow.

I knew I would love this book. The idea is just so unique.

The Tower - a saviour and a prison. People's minds are monitored and their lives are defined by a score out of ten on their wrist. Negative thoughts about the Tower brings down the score.

For Liana Castelle, life has been difficult. With parents who serve the Tower as Knights, and their perfect scores of tens on their wrists, Liana is a disappointment with her score of a four. Rebellious thoughts come too easily to her, she doesn't respect the Tower and has a natural feisty spirit that could get her into trouble. Then her worst nightmare becomes true and she drops down to a three. This is the level where people must have appointments at the Medica, and receive drug treatment to help with their loyalty to the Tower.

This all changes when she is sent by the Tower's controlling AI - Scipio, to track down a number one who has escaped. A thrilling chase with a young man only reveals one thing - when he is captures, his wrist reveals the number nine.

This leads Liana to question everything as how can a person's rank change that quickly? It later turns out that they have developed a drug to cheat the system called Paragon, and that the AI Scipio is actually weak and corrupted She decides to follow the young man, called Grey, and work together with him. He agrees to give her some Paragon

Liana discovers more things about the Tower and its misdeeds. she finds out they are actually killing people with ones on their wrists. The unthinkable happens and Grey is captured because he gave Liana the Paragon and his number has dropped down to a one. (AWWWWWW) After some devious planning with Zoe, she rescues Grey. But now they must flee.

I really enjoyed this dystopian novel, and I would recommend it to anyone who loves the Hunger Games, Divergent, and Legend.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great series has started!

I fell in love with bellas 's books after the gender series. Her writing keeps me turning the pages with just the right balance of action and romance. It took me a minute to really get into this first novel, but after about 1\4 in, I could not out it down! Already pre ordered the next book, and may start another one in a different series while waiting. Thanks Bella for all your great work!

[Ashley Randazzo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book because I was thought the concept of the rating system was an interesting twist on the all-controlling government, dystopian story, but it fell a little flat for me. The character development was ok, but they lacked depth. Much of the writing felt a little simple, and while I know it is a young adult book, throwing in a few obscure words does not make up for lackluster writing. The storyline was pretty good, but a few tweaks would have made it much better.

[Robbi Leah Freeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read entire series to point of 5th book waiting for others
I am loving this series.
The ones left in the world are in a tower with a A1 computer leading them with a council. The people are ranked 1-10 on supporting tower. No bad thoughts! Unfortunately our main character asks to many questions and can’t get with the program. This leads her to meet others like herself and they find the computer A1 is not working correctly and several groups are trying to take the tower.

[Izzie Hawkes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh wow! Bella Forrest sure knows how to write a good dystopian book. After how much I adored The Gender Game I was worried that this book wouldn't meet the amazing expectations but it delivered.

It was interesting, there were quite a few similarities to the Gender Game, pretty much the same type of plot just different types of 'government'.

Cannot wait to get a hold of the next one!

[Nola · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was pretty good. I really liked the main characters and the plot. I thought the world and all the systems were really well developed, but everything was really similar to a lot of other books I've read and it was really easy to predict what was going to happen.

[Matthew Burton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Positively extraordinary world building! Bella Forrest has created such an incredibly unique dystopian future, and I am completely enamored with it! I know this isn't 'horror' but as a disabled man who questions everything, this world terrifies the living hell put of me! I would be disident #1 and would quickly be removed from circulation. It certainly adds to the suspense in a good way, and the plot is utterly thrilling to the max. Everything about this book just worked perfectly for me. There was one aspect that stood head and shoulders above the rest, and that was Liana and Grey. They are written so well, and both come off as extremely complex, loveable, and, most importantly, brilliant characters. Liana specifically was outstanding, and I loved her strength and intestinal fortitude to stand against the AI when the entire tower refused to even question its intentions.

This was another book that was completely impossible to put down once I got into it. It's easily one of the best YA dystopian novels I have ever read in my life. Everything about this book was done very well except for one thing, my nemesis... the dreaded Cliff Hanger! 😂😂. All kidding aside, this was a fantastic read that I would not be afraid to recommend.  I had a lot of fun reading this and am quite excited tor the sequel!

[Abbi · Rating 5 out of 5]

*spoilers ahead!* - You've been warned.

I really loved this spin off from The Gender Game. Having loved TGG so much, I was a little skeptical about a spin off series but it peaked my interest as I really wanted to know more about the tower. I found that The Girl Who Dared to Think opened out really well, it started with information we already knew which helped with familiarity but it also showed The Tower from a different character perspective which was more negative than what we're used to. I found this really interesting.

There were a few things that I picked up on which I really liked too. Violet, from TGG, was terrified of heights and yet the hero of the spin off is a young girl who voluntarily takes the plunge. Both girls stand for the same thing yet I find their personalities slightly conflicting and I liked that. Furthermore, I loved the concept surrounding Requiem Day, I feel that people dying due to a massive technology failure was very reminiscent of modern world we live in. We are all glued to technology to the point where we feel we wouldn't survive without it. I'm not sure if this was done intentionally but I interpreted it that way.

My favourite part of the book was the ranking system. From my understanding, your rank is based on positive thinking and loyalty to the Tower. If you were depressed or defied the power that be, then your rank dropped. I also found this to be very reminiscent of today's society.

I loved the character's we've met already, full of life and personality which must have been difficult to write in given the ranking system. I was quite surprised, however, that we are losing beloved characters already. I was just starting to warm to Roark and then boom, gone. Thanks Bella - I'll just sit and grieve alone! I feel like we could be in for a lot more of this over the next book as the action has picked up massively already and I love it, I just hope it doesn't drop off.

I'm intrigued about the timeline of events and how they tie in with what we read in TGG series as well as what might happen if the dissidents in the tower escape into the real world. Will we get to see them enter Matrus/Patrus or whatever has happened? Will we see old characters again? I really hope so but for now, I'm happy following this new journey with Liana.

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, I’ll admit something here. I didn’t like this book as much as I thought I would.
I started to read this simply because I really liked the idea of it, the idea of the “numbers” on someone’s wrist defining how they’re treated in society, and I was intrigued by it.
I did like this book. It’s a solid 3 1/2 stars for me, but I’m going to explain why I didn’t make it a 4 or 5 stars.

Firstly, because of the writing. Most of the time, I enjoyed it. I quite like the way Bella Forrest writes, but at some points... Well, it came across as immature and a little silly. I think if I’d read this book a few years ago I would have liked it more, but now...

Another thing I didn’t like was Grey. Grey the character was great- I liked him as much as I could like someone who asked the protagonist to kiss him in exchange for information. Yes, I know that later on it turned out it was the first thing he thought of, and he didn’t want to tell her anything really, but... Later on the protagonist discovers she likes him and they kiss a few more times. I mean, it kind of made me mad that Zoe, the best friend, thought that Grey getting Liana to kiss him through a trick wasn’t that big of a deal, because, really, what kind of message does that send?

I also didn’t like the way that the story ended. Liana spoke to Scipio and didn’t really seemed surprised about it. It was just an “oh, cool,” kind of thing, which I didn’t really like. However, that could be personal preference.

Overall, I did like the book, and I liked Alex (even though we didn’t see much of him) and I also really like do Zoe and Eric. I also liked the idea of the Tower and their number watches, but all in all, I don’t think I’ll be picking up any more of Bella Forrest’s books.

[Brittany {conjuringpages} · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dystopian YA novel features insecure female protagonist gearing up to take down the scary powers that be with the help of a ragtag group and a doe-eyed love interest.
• • • •
Watch out, here I come late to another series. Oh well! It’s been a long time since I’ve dived into the one-of-a-kind, refreshing, unique world of YA Dystopia…


Sarcasm aside, I did *gulp* enjoy? reading this book... I certainly had no qualms with Bella Forrest's writing!
I'm in an awkward place where I feel like I'm 60% indifferent to reading the sequels but 40% does want to feed the YA Dystopian trash that's buried in my soul...

I won't go into plot details, as this was published a few years ago but, fans of Hunger Games, Divergent, Maze Runner &etc will devour this novel.

[L · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF.

[Amber Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

~3.6 stars~
I wasn't immediately hooked, and every now and then had to push through. Grey and Liana seemed to move REALLY fast, like he gave up his meds for her even though he'd met her... once? twice? Not to mention one of those times she was trying to capture him for being a 1. SPEAKING OF NUMBERS, one of the parts I really loved was the ranking system. 1-worst, 10-best. Ones seem to mysteriously disappear a lot! The ranking system reminds me a lot of the grading system, ngl.
I don't know if I'll read the second book, the ending felt really rushed. I'm definitely upset the fandom isn't bigger though, the fanart would go CRAZY. (also the lashes. I WANT TO TRY LASHING IN THE PLUNGE.?!?)

[Francesca]

DNF.

[(• ֊ •)੭ amyfish ~ love2love · Rating 4 out of 5]

It stared out kinda slow and boring and me being the impatient person I am, started to feel frustrated. However once the action started, I didn't regret that I started the book. The book was WONDERFUL.
I really enjoyed the plot; it wasn't too unique ive seen it in the selection series and others, but overall had a nice concept. It's the little things that kept the book great; the character personalities, events, writing style, etc.
However, there were few things that felt random. For example, the romance between Grey and Liana was kinda akward, and Zoe and Erin liking each other didn't really go anywhere. I felt like if she were to include romance, it should have had more of an important role instead of just sitting there.
*SPOILER ALERT* some of the deaths seemed so random too. For example, Germone. There wasn't really a reason he should die besides the fact that he knew about them, but that would have made the book more interesting. Also Cali's death. The author introduced Cali towards the end of the book only to have her dying. It all felt sudden and unexpected (in a kinda akward way) and I personally thought that the story was better off with them alive. I could have easily thought of better people to die such as the eye that was working of them, eric and/or zoe cuz then the romance might have been more interesting.
Although i am ranting on about the bad things in the book, it was a truely wonderful experience reading this book and I would totally recommend it. Some places seemed odd and off-place but overall it was a well structured and entertaining book. 4/5 stars <3

[mel. ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I really loved this book! I after reading The Gender Game, I was extremely disappointed with the hype that Forrest has been given as a writer and this novel just redeemed my opinion on the author completely.

I fell in love with the characters, especially Liana and Grey; they clung to my heart like a powerful novel always does to me with the protagonists and even the smaller characters I adored; there was definitely the depth within this novel that I felt was missing in The Gender Game and I will definitely be continuing this series to see what happens next! The concept, especially with the growth of AIs is so realistic and haunting to see and I really just can’t wait to pick up on what will happen next for the group.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dare to Think!

First off, I highly recommend reading "The Gender Game" series. While this series is separate, reading its predecessor will give you the background knowledge to understand this series and to the past that it refers to.

I really enjoyed this first book. Lianna is an interesting heroine. I love her relationships with her friends. I am interested to see where the next book will take the characters.

[Phyllis Pickens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hook...Line..Sinker !!!

I'm hooked.!! I throughly enjoyed this new series by Bella Forrest. As I fan of Bella's writing I was not disappointed. The storyline is intriguing, imaginative, well written and enthralling. The attention to detail is phenomenal and at times you feel like you parallel with the characters. I can't wait until the next book !!!

[Boosmummy · Rating 4 out of 5]

After loving The Gender Game series I picked this up one afternoon on my kindle and was hooked. It's great to get to know what happens inside the tower that was introduced in the Gender Game. Liana is a strong character and her thoughts/feelings on the tower system definitely chimed with what I'd been thinking. I'd have been a 1 after a week, too argumentative as my lot would say lol!

[Mimi · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is quite a unique story, excellently written at times, but I didn't really care for the characters and the MC was, for me, rather dull. Yeah, I get that she stood up against all that AI and stuff, but that was basically her character - I refuse to fit here, let's get out. So, 3.5 stars total, but I'll mark it as 4, for the sake of the writing and the idea.
→3.5 stars