I started this thinking that I may not end up liking this slim book; it didn't seem to be going anywhere of depth. I thought it might just end up being a whodunnit. But as I continued, it became much more than a tale of a tragic death. The slow reveal of the inner workings and turmoil of the Lee family at times made my heart hurt. The author has so much empathy for these characters; they are sometimes doing terrible things, but they think it's for the best. The parents, especially, want what's best for their children, so they might not have to deal with the same hardships they had to. I cried as the book ended, and I want to remember to say those things to my loved ones I might not always remember to.

I'll also say as the daughter of a white man and a Panamanian woman, there was a lot I understood about this family. And a lot I remembered about growing up in the U.S. that I hadn't thought about in some time.