So I gave this a 3 because it pretty much had me hooked, but I did have a few issues with it. Even though I figured out some of the twists and turns about half way through, like who did it and Cooper’s secret, I still couldn’t put the book down because I had to see how it ended. So yes, the fact that I started and felt compelled to finish this in less than 24 hours definitely meant something.

There were also a few issues in how certain things were handled, like the way the depressed characters were portrayed, but not actually explored. I couldn't tell if the author was trying to say the depression was the cause of their actions or a result of them. I'll leave that up to you guys to decide. Also, some of it did fall a bit flat for me and towards the end, everything just sort of started snowballing and getting 1) very strange and 2) slightly rushed. I attributed that to all of the build up throughout the book and a need to make sure all of the loose ends were tied up. The last 2 chapters/epilogue seemed like something was missing or like the author didn’t want to make things too easy. Believe me, it could’ve just been made easy, given all the drama there was elsewhere in this novel.

Anyway, in all, it was definitely an interesting read and a decent debut. Like I said, I just appreciated it that it kept my attention despite certain things.

I really wanted to like this book. For the most part I did. I understood Maggie's struggle and why she was so insecure. I was rooting for her throughout the book. Unfortunately I can't say the same for her best friend Nash. He was irritating throughout the entire thing. He claimed to be a best friend but was completely self absorbed, bratty and an asshole for lost of the book. Did Maggie do something that she shouldn't have done, yes but at the same time Nash's reaction was completely ridiculous and to be honest he should've just been happy for his friend who always has his back even when it means putting him before herself. After awhile the entire thing felt exhausting and I just wanted to reach through the book and shake both of them: Nash for being such a self absorbed jackass and Maggie for letting him carry on like that and thinking she deserved it. I would've let go of Nash a long time ago but Maggie believed for so long no one else would want to be her friend that she couldn't. And Tom...I was rooting for him and then he became completely irritating too. It was decent, but I probably won't be reading it again.

So I really enjoyed this book and the way the story was told. I’ll admit I was skeptical because it seemed to start off a bit slow for my taste, but once I understood the flow of the storytelling and and understanding of the characters, I really found myself enjoying the experience. I really felt the emotions of the characters and connected with them , so much so that each of the characters upset me in some way, but I still felt the need to finish their story and witness their journey. I especially liked the perspective of the “Mothers” of the church and how involved in the ending chapter they were. Definitely a great read.