I wanted to like it because of the blurb and I really loved ROOM but I had to slog my way through this one. I could not develop any empathy for the characters because I did not believe them. I honestly would not recommend this book.

This is a beautifully written book that resonated with me on so many levels. By the end of the book I felt as if I had spent an extended period of time with a beloved friend. Brady takes us on a roller-coaster ride of emotions seems, to me, to be brutally honest.
I loved the quote from which the title of the book is taken. I would recommend this book to people who like memoirs. I think it would make for an excellent book group discussion because there are a couple of big issues to explore.

A beautifully written book, this book makes me think every time I pick it up. I read memoirs hoping to learn something about how to deal with the curve balls life throws at me, and this book helped me springboard from her journal entries to situations in my own life. Theroux has also written some lovely essays which I have read.

This book certainly held my attention but I found it a bit convoluted. I liked the characters well enough that I wanted to know them better and I liked the writing well enough to buy the first two books in this series. But the ending left me unsatisfied; I kept looking for more pages that might have been left out of my copy :). There would be a lot to discuss, if only to try to deconstruct the plot in order to figure it out. I think mystery readers would enjoy reading it, but it's not a 'cozy'.

I wanted to like this book because the prose is so beautifully done, but the plot gets lost in all the description and mood setting. You have to be reading very carefully in order to catch the plot advancement. Because of the history and time period this could have been a really good book if it had been structured differently. Close, but no cigar.

I really did not like the first half of the book. The tone, to me, was one of being talked down to. Also, Tessa was not sympathetic even though she was dying. Her father at one point told her she was a monster and I agree. During the second half I did start feeling some sympathy and by the end I was deeply touched. The prose, in places, is poetic and sensual. I saw pictures of the UK cover and the US cover, and I feel the UK cover is more meaningful. I was surprised this is being marketed as age 14+.