I'm so confused by these books! All the way through I complained and whined, the characters painfully unbelievable and about as dimensional as pancakes, but that said I could not stop reading. If I was making a single copy I brought the book to the copy machine. If I was in the elevator going up one floor, I threw my faces into these pages. I casually snuck paragraphs in between work e-mails, one eye on the ink one on the boss door. Pfeffer is an amazing concept writer, and the concept is what pulls you through this book. The characters are bland, and I'm somewhat amazed and disturbed at how emotionally unaffected it left me. How could so many people die in a book and I didn't even consider shedding a tear? I cry at car commercials. This sequel felt like a checklist of things Pfeffer left out of the first book a) glowingly positive representation of religion b) a city setting c) a male main character with sisters. Check, Check, Check felt way too premeditated. Still, an interesting read and a wonderful conversation starter and a promoter of the power of pineapple.