Review Detail

Reader reviewed by Khy

This is the year that Natthe go-between, the peacemakergets a job and meets a drop-dead gorgeous chef named Josh.

This is the year that Lisequiet, shy, and solitary Lisedecides to take control of her life by taking control of her weight.

This is the year that Sofiathe ultimate guy magnetgets her nose pierced and falls seriously in love for the first time in her life.

This is the year that will change each of them forever.
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I thought this was an enjoyable book. The characters were well developed and realistic, but at the same time I felt the main characters were a little cliche. There was the overachiever who had all sorts of hidden problems and no real life, the rebel who hasn't been friends with the other two at long and who constantly disagrees with the overachiever, and the average girl who acts as a mediator for the other two girls and when finally getting a boyfriend becomes slightly obsessed with him. But other that and the fact that Nat, one of the two narrators, and a few minor characters are extremely annoying I thought that the characters were really great.

I loved how Lise actually had strong reasons for becoming anorexic and explained them. She also explained how she felt after her condition worsened. It made it much easier to get into her head, and I really liked that.

I only have a couple more things I didn't like.

1. Based on the book's description, I thought that Sofia would be a bigger character. The book was narrated by Nat and Lise, but not Sofia. She was friends with both of the narrators but she played a minor role in the story. It wasn't that big of a problem, but I was really expecting her to play a major role and I didn't get that.
2. There were so many unnecessarily italicized words it wasn't even funny. They were EVERYWHERE. There were so many words that were italicized that didn't need to be. It got so annoying. This probably wouldn't bother normal people, but it really bugged me.

All in all, I liked the book and thought it was good, but I've read better books about anorexic girls and the people around them.