I will preface all of this by saying that I absolutely adore Jennifer Weiner, her writing, and all of her books. Unfortunately, I wasn't as enthralled with this one as I have been with others that I have read (and I have read all of her books). Between the thinly veiled references to pop culture (I am nearly certain there were references to Charlie Sheen and Mel Gibson) and to pop culture that will inevitably date the book within the next 10 or so years (references to Twitter, Facebook, iPods, etc.) and characters that I just didn't feel fully invested in, I felt a little disappointed with the overall read. Also, as I mentioned in my updates, I became caught up in little details that I didn't think matched up - such as Ruth (main character) using the internet in 9th grade when she and I are nearly the same age and I definitely didn't use the internet until after HS, and also the "anti-bullying" policy her school allegedly had in 9th grade- again, that is more of a modern fad. I know, this is picky- but I get caught up in stuff like that when I am reading. I need the details to match up.

That said, I really liked the ending- I felt it was cathartic and gave closure to the overall story. Additionally, it was a good summer read and I am not normally this picky about my fluffy literature, so I am going to cut Weiner (who I love) some slack. I also, as aforementioned, really like the way Weiner writes- she is so readable and the pages just fly by. No matter what, she still remains one of my favorite writers and I won't hesitate to read another book of hers in the future. Hoping book 11 comes out soon! :)