This book hooked me from the first page, and I fell in love with the author, and with June, the main character. Even though I had such a different childhood, there was something about her as a 14-year-old girl that seemed familiar and I readily identified with her. The characters were vividly drawn and had emotional depth, and were realistic. The dialogue was great, the voices unique and very real. The conflicts were wrenching and realistic and I absolutely couldn't wait to find out what happened, from page to page.

Early on, I had the occasional feeling that the book could stand a bit of editing; there were places it went on too long, there was a too-frequent use of simile in a sentence or paragraph, etc. It suffered from a little too much of itself. As the story went on, I continued to feel the author's youth as a writer -- too far a reach to symbolism, too strong a reliance on figurative language, etc. I love symbolism and figurative language, but the book would benefit from a bit of pruning.

And then I thought there were too many endings. This is a problem suffered by many writers, in my opinion, including even Toni Morrison (I'm thinking of Beloved, specifically), so Brunt is in fine company.

Despite these criticisms, I enjoyed the book a lot and find myself continuing to think about June and Greta, the main character sisters. I loved the way Brunt explored so many rich topics, and got the details just right. It's easy to forgive her excesses, and I imagine she'll refine her style the more books she writes.....and I hope there are many more to come. I'm a big fan.