The story line of this novel was good and I think the author had a good idea upon which to formulate a story. There were many smaller themes--small town life, childhood friendship, first loves, alcoholism and its effect on a family, etc. This story was told in pieces--both in present and in the past, recalled in the speaker's memories. I thought that was a fine vehicle to deliver this story and I also thought it interesting in whose voices the author chose to tell the story, and whose were not chosen. I will say, too, that I raced through this novel--anxious to find out what happened to the two little girls and who was ultimately responsible.

But beyond that, there were several shortcomings in the book.
The writing is very amateurish. I don't expect everything I read to be a literary work of art and I don't seek that out either. But the writing here was very basic and undeveloped. I don't even agree with the reviewer that said it is more of a Young Adult read, just because of the simplistic writing style. I also enjoy YA reads from time to time and it is not simpler and inexperienced writing that makes a book YA, and to say that insults those authors. In my opinion, this author is simply inexperienced.

The other thing that really annoyed me about this book is the viewpoints and different voices. I appreciate that the author took this on, but what bothered me is that each one did not really have their own voice at all. They each created their own stories, sure. But their language and vocabularies did not vary, despite the range in ages (from 7 years old to 57 years old!) or their education level (first grader up to a college professor / department head)! Even the backgrounds of these characters varied so greatly--some small town, some from Chicago, some law enforcement, some academic, to stay-at-home moms. Yet, their voices all read the same. Each one was not individual in their wording, phrases, and not consistent with their ages, vocabulary level, or background. I would think this would be the basic construct of a novel that is speaking from each of the different characters. So that makes me wonder, why even bother writing in this manner? This really bothered me.

I was a little disappointed in the character of Antonia, too. Overall, I can't say I liked this book as much as I WAS really interested in it and stuck with it to see the outcome. So in that respect, it is a success and that's why I gave it 3 stars. I doubt I would read another of Heather Gudenkauf's books.