I started out this one a little unsure how I would feel about it, but by the end of the book I was so glad I was able to just sit and read with no interruptions, because this was such a page-turner. There were so many different aspects to this story. So many things that tugged at my heart. Not only the big things talked about in the synopsis, the fact that Lily is worried about schizophrenia taking over her life and the baby elephant, Swift Jones - or Swifty, whose mom has rejected her, but also Lily's best friend Sawyer who has a family that does not support him, even going so far as to forcing him to move out. And then there is the circus that takes ownership of the Swifty, and while there are the issues that you'd imagine with a circus and animals, there are even more things going on behind the scenes and between the family members that run it. Not to mention that Lily finds out things about her dad and mom's relationship, and comes to realize just why her father was doing the things he was the way he did after her mom was gone.

I learned a lot about elephants, and a lot about schizophrenia as well. I knew that schizophrenia was a complicated and oftentimes scary mental illness, but didn't realize all the types there were, and just all the ways it could manifest. I also didn't know how much it could be overcome in some cases, and that it wasn't a set cure of just taking medicine and being okay.

It was actually a little nice bit of a break to get a girl that was as innocent as Lily was, boyfriend-wise, sexually, etc., and to get a story that fit that type of a teenager perfectly. I feel like I'd been pretty close to that aspect in my teen years. So I enjoyed the way that was done in the book. By the end I was just so into the story I couldn't put it down, and finished it really quickly, hoping that they'd be able to save Swifty, and that other things would resolve themselves as well.