I liked the book as far as content and plot go. The description was vivid and it was a pleasant read. However, one thing I think the writer failed to capture was the true essence of Nick, the main character's personality. I'm not a male myself, so I can't say this with certainty, but I really doubt that an average teenage boy would see things the was Nick does. I was just pulled out of the story whenever she described her version of a typical teenager's thoughts. Although I'm not a boy, I'm around them daily and the two comparisons just didn't match up. For example, at one point Nick's mom is scolding him. He cows like a six-year-old girl and absolutely breaks down emotionally. In my opinion, there was nothing in the scolding that should have made him feel the way he did. I think the author over-dramatized the emotions of the character and it just didn't work for me. The plot was fine, with great descriptions and enough secrecy that the end wasn't a dead giveaway. The end has a cliffhanger, but not one so dramatic that it makes you want to throw the book at the wall in frustration. The only reason I didn't like this book overall was because the author failed to capture the essence of a teenage boy; a feat that I would have thought impossible for a female, non-teenaged author anyways. J.K. Rowling succeeded with Harry Potter because she was not trying to capture every thought that ran through Harry's head; she wasn't aiming to a teenage audience, either. The thoughts Rowling showed could have belonged to anyone, while in this book the author was trying too hard to put the reader right inside a teenage boy's head, not-so-secretly referenced hormonal urges and all.