I really enjoyed this book, the story captured me and I thought the twists were interesting and clever. I didn’t love the ending and it felt disconnected but I’m interested to read more in the next book...

To start with I felt that the book was a little bit slow. I am sceptical of books that jump from past to present because a lot of the time it is difficult to keep up. However, I was pleasantly surprised by this one.
As with all of Sarah Dessen's books I love how she focuses on harsher story lines, unlike most teenage 'romance' novels that are all about the ups and downs of the relationship between the main guy and girl. I enjoyed the fact that the story also did not only focus on Annabel, but also on her family.
I thought that the fact that Dessen kept the main issue in the story a secret until much further on in the book made it even more compelling. And then when it did start to unfold it took a few chapters before it was all revealed. I really liked this way of writing.
By Annabel telling the story from her point of view, and jumping from the present to the past, I thought that it made the story flow very well. It was done in a way that shared her inner monologue with the audience.
Finally I also really enjoyed how the story was cyclic. It started with the whole family around the dinner table, and then ended in vaguely the same way. However in comparison to the beginning of the book the family was in a much better place. It was a lovely way to bring the book to a close.
I would start on how much I loved Owen Armstrong as a character, but I could go on for hours, and its 4am. All that I do have to say, is how much I appreciated his character, I understand how important music can be to a person, and how it helps to drown out the outside world when things are tough. So in a way I was able to connect to his character a lot more than I ever have in the past. I really enjoyed how he accepted Annabel for who she was, and showed her that she was a good person and that not everyone in the world is bad. The are good people, you just need to find them. And when you find them, you need to keep hold of them and you cannot let them walk away.
I am sorry this is a bit all over the place, and a bit confusing. But I literally just finished the book 10 or so minutes ago and I just had all of these thoughts going through my head. I had to get it all written down.