I was definitely not prepared for this book. First of all, I assumed it was going to be a fantasy novel based on the title. Second of all, I have never cried from reading a book but I came so very close to it while reading this one. Had I not been reading on my lunch break at work, there is an excellent chance I would have shed at least a tear or two.

What I liked most about this book was how much I saw of my life in high school in it. I grew up in East TN, not very far from where the setting of this book is supposed to be. The town I grew up in is very small, upsettingly so, and full of people I always felt never understood me. All my feelings of desperation to escape were in this book and it made it all the more real to me.