I am having a hard time figuring out how to rate this one. It took me quite a bit to get into, but by about halfway through, the intricacies of this family had me hooked. Part of the problem (at least for me) is that I think this book is waaaay longer than it needs to be. I get that a Nelson was setting the stage at the beginning, but the beginning was a slog for me.

There are essentially three stories in one in this book, all eventually converging at the end of the story. There's a sort of magical realism aspect to the plot which I kind of wish was more developed. Like do other people experience this or just this particular family? Because the book is so long, I thought we might get into that more, but we really don't.

As a YA book, I'm not exactly sure who I would recommend this to. In a weird way, it reminded me of Bridge of Clay in that it's a long, intricate story about a complex family. But I'm not sure what else I would pair it with. It's definitely one of those books that doesn't really fit in any particular category.

All in all, it's not a bad book, especially if you like particularly complex family stories. And don't mind if the book is a little on the long side.