I am quite torn about this one.
The book has so many really well-done setups but the follow-through always sucked without exception.
There wasn't a single twist I didn't predict years ahead and there are many of them.

There are a number of things in this book I really wanted to love but the execution fell flat in the end every single case.

The only part that I enjoyed a lot is the beginning. Before the book tries twists and turn and complex court intrigue etc.

Every good and interesting idea eventually gets resolved by a common and cheap YA or sci-fi trope I've read hundreds of times before.
Every good plot thread is just a thin veneer over a myriad of plot holes.

The writing is easy to read and flows really well. I was never jarred or irritated by the writing itself.

All in all, I can not give more than 2 stars but this could've been easily 4 stars if it tried harder.

There are 3 types of bad books for me. The first is just so bad that it makes me mad but I sometimes keep reading just to see how bad it gets. Second are books that just fail to engage me at all. Those just leave me indifferent. This one is of the third category. It fully engaged me and kept me actively reading and paying attention. This in itself is a very positive aspect but nothing in this book held up to my scrutiny. I would not have paid enough attention to even notice all the hidden weaknesses if there wasn't a very engaging element to this book. ( )

Really interesting premise. I generally enjoy books that delve into what makes someone human, the contrast between humanity and creatures deemed inhuman who often have more compassion. There were a few rough spots in the story especially towards the end where things accelerated quite quickly and too neatly especially as far as the characters' emotions. Otherwise an interesting, exciting read. ( )

Immediately upon finishing this book, what I was going to say about it was "A focus on heterosexual romance and a lack of even minor non-straight characters is not my favorite thing ever, but I'm prepared to accept it, especially while reading mainstream YA. But then, about two-thirds or three-quarters of the way through the book, it turned out there was in fact a non-straight character! Who confesses her unrequited love to the heroine and dies in her very next scene. Frankly, I would rather have no representation than that."

But then I remembered that there were, in fact, more non-straight characters in the book! In the form of a couple of depraved bisexuals who drug and molest naive young women who are new to the imperial court. (Well, the female half of the couple is bisexual, at least. I don't remember any mention of drugging and molesting naive young men.) So it wasn't as bad as I thought it was, after all. It was worse.

Really, the hell of it is that I don't think the author at all dislikes gay or bi people, and I feel like she probably patted herself on the back a bit for the inclusion of, at least, the non-evil one who dies. Gotta have diversity, right? But the author clearly hasn't paid enough attention to discussions of LGB representation in fiction to avoid rehashing some of the most shopworn (and widely complained-about) tropes and stereotypes there are. ( )

An interesting twist for the dystopian-strong female protagonist genre. Nemesis (the Diabolic) is a genetically engineered bodyguard, bound to her mistress by brain chemistry and love. Her journey through the planet courts to protect and serve is an epic quest, through a wildly imaginative science fiction world. Solid story, and a surprisingly winning anti-heroine, surrounded by plots and lies.

Advanced reader's copy provided by Edelweiss. ( )

Wonderfully done. Despite being the first in a trilogy, I don't feel bullied into reading the second by an annoying cliffhanger.

It was so well done that I chose to buy the second one when I happened across it on sale years later. ( )