Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)
Genre: fiction
Review: I spent the first 2/3 or so of this book just hoping that when the big reveal(s) came I wouldn't be too disappointed. It becomes clear early on that something, probably something tragic, happened to Kit at some point, and that something shady is going on with Sunny's family, but for quite some time there really aren't any clues as to what. In Kit's case, I wasn't disappointed at all. What happened to her is sufficiently dramatic to make her current circumstances realistic, but not overblown. Not only that, but the course of learning her backstory side-by-side with her ongoing story made her a more sympathetic character.
Sunny's story isn't as well done, unfortunately. After being half revealed, the mystery is left to lie fallow until nearly the end of book, at which point it is hastily revealed and even more hastily resolved. In Sunny's case, though, the mystery has more to do with her parents, and it's really her journey of learning who her parents really are and figuring out how to deal with that knowledge that makes for compelling reading.
None of the characters in this book are particularly three-dimensional, but Halpern writes so well about how they fit together, that it almost doesn't matter. Every time I opened this book a felt like I was walking into the grand old library in washed-up Riverton, NH, about to meet my own good friends.
FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.
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