The Characters – This book has characters I really adored. Each one of them were unique and stood out on the page, even for a book with a fairly big group of people. There's Tess Kendricks, the main character who moves to D.C. upon the discovery of a secret she tried to keep from her sister. Then there's the group of friends she unintentionally makes when enrolled in Hardwicke, the school of D.C. Asher who was amusingly arrogant and refreshingly candid, as well as his twin siter Emilia. Vivvie the sweet and friendly guide assigned on her first day. And Henry the serious and responsible best friend to Asher. All of them had contribution to the book in important ways that really left impressions.
There are also the adults of the book who play almost an equal part to the story. Tess's sister Ivy, her assistant Bodie, her friend Adam Keyes (who I think is a low key dream boat), and his father William. Even the president and first lady play interesting roles in the book! I really liked reading about them as much as the teenagers, since more often than not the adults in the lives of young adult characters are simply there on the peripheral of their journey.
The Mystery – The mystery was amazingly done. Mystery plots can often be easy to solve, especially when some authors attempt to foreshadow but instead just given the answer to the plot right off from the start. Ultimately, you don't know who to trust in the book, and you're left wondering if everyone plays some part in the ultimate political crime. This book really reminded me of Scandal and everything I love about the show, because the world of politics really does seem a bit scandalous. It's also important that the teenagers, and their part in the mystery, wasn't bloated up. They weren't these masterminds who solved everything an easy that even professionals don't often perfect. They make mistakes, they get too involved, even with the guidance of Adam and Ivy's professional skills.
Family – Family and the importance of your loved ones is another aspect of the story that was really relevant to the characters. Tess really struggles with the catalyst of her move to D.C., as well as being around a sister who she was essentially estranged from the past three years. The tension was very realistic without painting Ivy as the bad guy. I really sympathized with her and the choices she had to make. I also really felt for Tess and the hurt she felt towards her sister. The conflicts between them were handled so well, without there being anything too forced, or with too much clashing.
The Romance – Or really, the fact that there was none. A positive point coming from someone who loves romance in her books 99.9% of the time? Why yes it is. However, who knows, maybe romance blooms in the next book! I trust Barnes to work it in the way that flows best, after such a great start! I just really enjoyed that the focus on family was held to a bigger importance with this book than romance usually is. It makes me want to discover more YA that has a deeper focus on family in all sorts of ways. Another recent series I read that some focus character's families in it was the Lynburn Legacy series by Sarah Rees Brennan!
Bonus: It was also great that the book has some diversity, with two of the teenage characters being POC (Vivvie Bharani and Henry Marquette were awesome). I hope these characters continue to play important parts in the story the way they did in this one.
Overall, this book has definitely been added to my favorites of 2015 and I plan to read more from this author!
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