A dystopian world where the few rich people have amessed all the power and the majority of the population is very poor scrambles to survive. And to make it even worse there is a sick entertainment program the „Lamb’s Gauntlet“ where endepted people are forced to participate in a fight till the death. Meaning they are hunted and eventually killed by one of the gamemakers highly trained assasins, called Angels. And all of this is beeing broadcasted for everyone to watch live. Usually this is straightforeward - a chase and a death of the so called Lamb. But this Gauntlet is different because what if the Lamb Inesa and the Angel Melinoë suddenly work together. Inesa and Melinoë are both fascinating and multifacettet characters that try to escape the system that has both of them locked in place. Their story is dark and marked with a lot of dread and hopelessness but also moments of joy, love, family and solidarity. And all of it beautifully told.

Considering this is a dystopian standalone the world and the characters were really good and deeply thought through. It had some pacing issues and I didn’t really like the ending but overall it’s a solid story with a cute sapphic romance plot and an interesting world. But I think this would’ve worked better in a series.