I'm going to start with the things I didn't like but please read on as I actually really enjoyed this story!

The main issues with this story for me was that it didn't feel very grounded in time or place. In fact, because of certain word choices, descriptions, environmental elements, and more, I found it impossible to know where this story was set until I was 81% through the story and "Brisbane" was mentioned. At first, I assumed it was the US due to the prevalence of guns which isn't realistic to Australia, but then there was a swarm of lorikeets (birds native to Australia and the South Pacific), but then they referenced Dakota (the US again), and then they talked about the bush (more of an Australian term than an American term). There was also the use of "Padre", the term "federal agent" (we don't use that term for federal police officers in Australia), and the use of "miles" (instead of kilometres) that made me think it was the US. Then the town of "Ipswich" was mentioned which made me suspect it was Australia and then eventually it was confirmed with the mention of "Brisbane".

Each new reference broke my engagement because instead of reinforcing where the story took place, they conflicted with the previous reference and caused more confusion.

Time was also not clearly defined and suddenly the text would be telling me that six months had past when I had no idea any time at all had past between one event and the next.

Now, for what I liked!

I felt the writing was really strong (except for one or two scenes), the characterisations were intriguing and I actually found myself interested in the majority of the supporting characters as well. The Biblical overtones were done in such a way that the story didn't feel like Biblical fiction which I really appreciated. The story held up and moved at a good pace. I never found myself skipping to dialogue which often happens when I read genres outside my preferred ones. Another thing I was impressed with is how I didn't hate the constant shifting POVs. Generally, I hate multi-pov stories but the individual characters where written in such a way that it was very obviously different characters with different personalities so it didn't bother me at all.

I finished the story with a keen interest in reading the sequel which, as a Team Stand Alone reader, is pretty impressive.

For a first time author, I thought they did a really great job.

Decent enough. If I hadn't read it in a single sitting I probably wouldn't have gone back to finish it though.

The third quarter drags on and I found myself jumping to dialogue until stuff started to actually happen.

This is the fourth or fifth book I have DNF'd this year because I just couldn't relate to the teenage characters or their experiences.

I think it's time I stopped trying to read YA.