I thought that the dychotomy between the protagonist's fantasy life and reality was very well portrayed, and Ms. Peters did an excellent job portraying an abusive (high school, lesbian) relationship. My only real problem with this book is that it takes on too many issues: abuse, sexual identity, being orphaned, peer pressure, substance abuse, trichotillomania,autism, miscarriages, etc. Sometimes the sheer number of problems these people have distracted me from an otherwise very compelling plot. Kudos to the author/publisher for including the hotlines at the end!