This book starts out with Jessamyn’s (Jes) one burning desire being to run as an adversary in the Court of Fives. The Fives is a five-part obstacle course that is highly competitive and is watched for entertainment. Jes’s immediate goals and situation change so much throughout the book that I can’t mention the details, but this quote from her father is the running theme for the entire book:

“There will come a moment in your life where you find yourself confronted with two choices, and both are bad ones… When we come to that fork in our path down which no road is clean, all we can control is what dignity and honor we take our inevitable step.”

We learn a lesson in what it means to make decisions for ourselves, without the input of others, and that the decision that seems to be fair to everyone may not be so in long run.

5/5 Stars