Storytime: I actually picked this book for my discussion-group reading because my teacher promoted it as "probably the most challenging" of our options, and I'm nothing if not ambitious (at least when it comes to what I'm reading). Keeping in mind that this was the opinion of four or five eighth-grade avid readers, all of us regretted our choice. We weren't really sure what was going on plotwise, and we had trouble relating to any of the characters.

Could be fun to try this again, a few years down the line, and see if it's something that actually appeals to me now.