DNF at 25%. It's been over four years since I received this ARC. I gave it a go and have decided it is not for me. It interested me then and no longer does now.

This book had a really intriguing premise for me, though part of it seemed a little too good to be true. And in a way part of it really was.

I like so many of the authors who helped create this book, and I wanted to be able to love the characters but in all honesty I didn’t really find many of them all that likeable.

Hugh is the one who progresses the most throughout the novel, with what I felt was the most character growth but it still does not excuse previous actions. Sorry, but no.

Velvet was most interesting to me because she was one of the ones who was most interesting and I love flawed, hard working characters.

Dawson and Joe would probably be next up, followed by Sasha and last would be Kaitlyn who to be honest is a little much.

I don’t want to spoil this too much, because it is a book that each person who reads it will have a drastically different opinion especially since there is so many characters that each reader can latch onto.

So pick it up if you can, give it a go and let me know what you think.

I wish this were longer or had fewer POVs because I didn't get a chance to get to know the characters like I would have liked. A pretty basic premise with stereotypical characters, didn't do anything groundbreaking. I spoke about the book here: https://youtu.be/5YpKZjfnv9U?t=14m25s

DNF at 20%

While this book has an interesting premise, I am finding that there are just too many characters to keep track of. Also, it is just a bit to crass for me. Not a fan of the constant degrading comments.

This book does so much right. The premise is clever and executed perfectly. The story takes place over several years after our six protagonists first meet, and we get to peek into their lives for about a day of each of the following years. We get to see them go from teens to adults. We see them become better people, follow their dreams, make hard decisions and just grow.

Despite how little we get to see into each character's life because it is only a day every year and we have six different characters to cover, they all feel remarkably well developed. There is diversity in every sense of the word and none of it feels like a cheesy PSA smashing you over the head.

Usually, when a book is written by this many authors the flow gets a bit choppy. That isn't the case here. The narrative flows well from character to character and into the omniscient chapters. I never felt like I was reading something hastily stitched together. It felt seamless. The characters had distinct voices and personalities but it felt like a cohesive work and I certainly didn't dare hope that high coming in.

This whole book is filled with characters making bad decisions and growing from them. It's hard not to at least get angry at each character once. Yet, sitting down I can't really think of a definitive favourite. Kaitlyn is the character I identified with the most. Hugo, the absolute asshole is my favourite of the boys. Velvet's chapters were fantastic to read. Joe's were definitely the most heartbreaking. I felt terrible for Sasha, and Dawson was just such a good guy usually.

It's hard to say much else without spoiling something. So much happens and, though the ending was a little to open-ended for my liking, I absolutely fell in love with this read. If it had been written in a different way it might not have hit as hard, but I think even then this are fabulous and loud characters who'll stick with you. It's also wonderful to see characters make bad decisions, be punished and then be forgiven and do better. That's something that's not too common in young adult literature.

I definitely recommend this, even to people who are hesitant to pick up a contemporary read. Its unique storytelling style will keep you invested. Plus the chapter art is wonderful.