One thing that really stuck out to me in this story, is how our family is often times more than just our blood relations. We can find family in friends as well. Family is more than just who we are related to, it's the people who care about you and are there for you no matter what. It's the people who welcome you into their home and life when you really need a place to turn. It's the people that forgive us without question when we let them down and still love us through it all. Sometimes this is found in relatives, but some people have to look outside of that to find this. Marin is one of those people.

Mabel is a friend that all of us should strive for. She and her family are the kind of people to openly welcome someone who needs family in their life. When Mabel sees how much Marin needs them, there is no room for anger or bitterness in past actions, there is only the thought of making her see that they are her family now.

There is loss in the story. Marin has to deal with loss on such a huge scale, because she doesn't just lose a family member to death, she discovers things about that family member after they pass that cause a different sort of grieving. To find out, when it's too late, who someone truly is must be so difficult.

I think that people who enjoy the works of John Green or just Young Adult Contemporary works in general will enjoy this book.