I am not remotely prudish but this book is definitely being marketed in the wrong age bracket. Yes, I know this is how a lot of high schoolers act and think, and I'm aware that realism is a good thing generally, but this is not a young adult book.

So many contemporary romances (for any age group, honestly) seem to be hyperfocused on pushing the envelope and being as edgy and problematic as they can possibly get by with. This one is no different. Trigger warnings for graphic sexual content and graphic language (again, I am not remotely prudish but c**t in any context is triggering for me and so I will include this trigger warning).

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book is not my typical read, probably because I am an adult and my years of teen angst are long gone. But there is one quality that kept me reading: the author, Mercedes Helnwein. Her use of language is (by all accounts) extremely clever. The vocabulary, the wit, the sometimes geeky science analogies, made it unable for me to put the book down.

This story follows Grace during her sophomore year at boarding school. Little does she know that a swift shot of her slingshot, would lead to a transformation– breaking away from the lonely, crushing on biology teacher, Stephen King reading girl. Filled with all the sophomore year drama; falling in love, exploring sexuality, friendships, awkwardness, and the like, Grace experiences any and every emotion a teenager grapples with as they learn who they are and what they really want from life.

There are times in the novel where I just wanted to scream at the characters because of their decisions; probably because I see where and what will happen to them if they keep on that path. But really, this book is not written for me. I don’t think I am the main cliental. As a school librarian, I would suggest it to my high school students if they were interested in realistic fiction. I think this story is more than just the emotional turmoil of being a teen. It’s more of a reflection on how having those emotions and feelings is not uncommon and how decisions shape who you become; also that you have no control over who your family is, but how you choose to overcome it.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for giving the opportunity to access this ARC. I really enjoyed it and look forward to adding it to my library when it is released!

I really wanted to like this book. I liked the description and I thought it would work for me. I saw a few 1 and 2 star reviews, but I figured it was subjective and I read it anyway.
First, I'll say that I love boarding school settings and the humor was pretty good. It wasn't all bad.
The bad thing was the MC.
Ugh, Grace Welles is awful. She starts the book crying because she's just discovered that the teacher she has a crush on is engaged. She is genuinely convinced that they are soulmates. What the actual fuck? The teacher is obviously not a pedophile and doesn't really seem aware of Grace's feelings at first, but Grace won't give up. So she throws a fit like a five-year-old, insults the fiancée to her face, calling her ugly, and goes on to insult the teacher by telling him that nobody cares about his class and that he's doing nothing with his life. She talks about how boys are too immature, she only has eyes for a man, and it's fucking creepy. So as a result, she starts acting rude and failing his class on purpose. She isn't even one of those people who say "I imagine that we'll be together in ten or so years." She wants a relationship with a thirty-year old NOW. And she doesn't realize how wrong she was until the end. In the beginning, she thinks she ACTUALLY HAS A CHANCE with him.
There's even a scene where she, in her inner dialogue, says she and the teacher "broke up." Like she actually thought they were in a relationship. This is clearly some psychological problem, and we're supposed to actually listen to this? I've read some pretty bad main characters in my life (Claire from Ship It and Chelsea from Watch Us Rise come to mind) but none who did things like this.
Then there's the fact that she's bitchy to her roommate, Georgina, for no reason, except that she plays musical soundtracks without headphones (that's the only thing I think she actually pointed out about her.) She takes out her anger at everything by bullying Georgina and messing up their room. In fact, there is kind of a lot of girl hate in this book, as Grace also hates her classmate, Anju, just because she briefly had a crush on Wade (who Grace treated like shit, but I'll get there.) She assumes that Wade likes Anju back, which he doesn't, and she gets extremely jealous and humiliates Anju in front of her whole class by slut-shaming and lying that she seduced Wade while he was in a relationship. When Anju tries to call Grace out for how she treated Wade, Grace refuses to listen and tries to insult her in every way possible. She thinks she's being clever and confident, but her dialogue is straight out of a Disney channel show. The only reason she even forgives Anju is because she finds out that Anju likes her favorite band, but not before gatekeeping and complaining about people wearing T-shirts of bands they don't listen to (unpopular opinion, but let them wear what they want.) Thankfully, the girl hate does end after Grace establishes friendships with Georgina and Anju.
But in contrast to the girl hate, there's her obsessive worship of a senior girl at her school, Beth. She can't even mention her name without going on and on about how cool and unique Beth is. All I really remember about Beth is that she convinced Grace to start smoking (which she quit by the end of the book, but still) and that she was treated by Grace like a free therapist. All they do is talk about Grace's personal shit while Grace puts Beth on a pedestal of being perfect, causing Beth to be reluctant to share the more personal parts of herself and feel like she has to be this sophomore girl's fairy godmother. Sigh. Essentially a non-romantic Manic Pixie.
I mentioned this already, but Grace is also a HUGE MUSIC SNOB. Not as bad as Raya from 1000 Words for Love, but close. I'm not going to hate a character because they have different opinions on things than me, but I will hate one who shames others for their harmless interests. She has a whole monologue (in her head) about how much she hates musicals because they're not "realistic," which is a huge snobby cliché, and has to throw in a line about how "pop music is bad enough." She later begins a sentence by saying "I like older music, for the record," and her taste is basically just anything that came out before 2000. It's completely random, from 90s alternative to early rock music. She sounds like she's trying way too hard to prove herself as superior for this. I used to be, and still am sometimes, so embarrassed about my music taste (which is mostly, yes, musicals and pop) that I never revealed it to anyone for fear of being mocked, and I had to deal with the "I only listen to real music" type almost every day at school. It's exhausting. Can she please just let Georgina enjoy what she loves?
I'm not going to dislike Grace for having sex with Derek, the bully, because it's easy to be manipulated by people like him. But I am going to dislike how she treated him.
Now, onto the worst thing about Grace. I'll call this section OUR MC TREATS HER BOYFRIEND LIKE SHIT AND REFUSES TO CHANGE.
I'm talking, not even until the end. I'd better bulletpoint this.
- It all starts when she hits Derek with a slingshot to get him to stop bullying Wade. When Wade thanks her, Grace brushes him off and says that she doesn't really care about him as a person and that it was just "common decency." She even openly refuses to let him sit with her at lunch. I hate, hate, hate, HATE characters who are rude to potential new friends.
- She gets insanely jealous about him being friends with Anju
-She writes a manipulative emo poem about him in class. When she's done reading, she crumples the paper, hits him with it, and runs out of the room. Nobody does that out of being emotional, it's clear that she wanted to hurt him.
- She got his skateboard taken away and threw cereal with milk in his face all because he didn't know how to talk to her after they broke up.
The only thing on that list she actually regretted later was the skateboard thing.

*SPOILER*

And the ending? I hate that too. I get that some people think having a happy ending is overdone, but honestly, not having one is way more overdone. Not like I wanted Grace and Wade to stay together, but did they really have to make her no longer interact with Georgina after she started a new school year? And for Wade to refuse to stay in touch with anyone? It was more of a non-ending. Maybe realistic, but I just don't like the lack of resolution left there.

I really did like the writing style and if the author were to write another book with a better main character, it would be an auto-read. This just wasn't it.

I really wanted to like this book.

As an educator, I read a lot of YA in search of new novels for my classroom library. I teach tenth grade, so my students are around fifteen or sixteen years old. I would not put this book in my classroom library, and that unsettles me some, because I don't believe in censorship at all.

The very first chapter has the protagonist weeping in the bathroom after cussing out her biology teacher because she found out he was engaged. She thought they were soulmates. It was a very awkward, even unrealistic scene.

The novel is filled with profanity, which normally doesn't bother me much, but this just seemed gratuitous. And then there's the sex.

So, because I was reading because I generally enjoy a diverse section of YA novels, and because I was looking for classroom library material, I never finished this book. It was immediately clear that this book was not for me. I hate that because the description was so promising.

I am grateful to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC and the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I first have to say I have no idea how this is being published as a YA book. I would not like my niece reading this book at all. I DNFed this book due to content. It was very cringy and over the top. There was so much profanity and sexual content that didn't add to the story or character development at all. Sex was written in such an unhealthy way. Beth even tells Gracie to just sleep with any random guy to lose her virginity already. Granted I know not everyone saves sex for marriage, but this didn't seem like it was shown in a very postitve light at all. It just felt like the subject was taken very lightly with no mention of using condoms. None of the characters were remotely likable. The main character Gracie is a total nasty bitchy person that does not care about others. She's just always angry, which I get because she is a "teenager" but it was just over the top. I felt that all the relationships were really unhealthy also. Gracie is really dependent on Wade to make her happy. The dialogue was also so cringey. One line was even about how trees smell like cum and I have no idea who talks like that or why it was even mentioned in the first place. This book made me so uncomfortable and I really had to push myself to get to the 58% mark. I finally had to give up when I didn't see any consequences for actions or any character development.

I think that this book has a LOT of questionable material in it including a student convinced that her teacher is her soul mate and other weird romance aspects of the book. I am not one for censoring books or media, but as a teacher this is not a book I would feel comfortable including in my classroom library.

My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

WELL! For a while there, I thought my entire review would be written in capital letters. This author has a quirky wit and a very wry sense of humour.

Fifteen year old Gracie was, in her own mind, a "Rebel With Lots of Cause." She was the illegitimate daughter of a man with a "real family" on whom he showered most of his affection, time and money. Gracie and her "always look on the bright side mother" were left with the dregs. - of just about everything.

At the start of the story, Gracie is suffering the agonizing pangs of her first bout of unrequited love for her biology teacher. Gracie is an extremely intelligent girl, but you realize that she is a typical self-absorbed, melodramatic teen with a huge chip on her shoulder.

The story is told from Gracie's point of view, but the reader can easily read between the lines and see that Gracie is often the victim of her own turbulent emotions. She is very independent and scorns the popular crowd, but for some reason the cool and hip Beth influences several of Gracie's life-altering choices. Her friendship with Wade was downright charming - if you ever dared used such an adjective within Gracie's hearing!

In the end, this is a highly entertaining, insightful, and extremely well written story about growing up, making good choices from the slim pickings that life has left you with, surviving and moving on. I really liked the realistic ending. It will be interesting to see what other reviewers have to say about it.

This author took all the usual tropes and shook them up. Love triangles - you bet! But, well, that was not really a LOVE triangle in the usual sense/ Read it, and you'll see what I mean!

I grew to like Gracie, despite her prickly ways. Granted, she often got on my nerves a bit. There were times when I wanted to tell her to smarten up and tell her father exactly how she felt about his unequal treatment, but then this would have been a totally different and much shorter story, right?

Highly recommended! A five out of five for this debut novel!

What attracted me to "Slingshot" by Mercedes Helnwein was the promise of a YA contemporary romance with a darker edge to it, and I was excited to receive an e-ARC copy of the book from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The story of "Slingshot" follows 15-year-old Grace Welles, who attends a boarding school in Florida. When she saves new kid Wade Scholfield by using her slingshot to deter a group of bullies, she inadvertently alters the course of both their lives. But Wade has a dark secret. Can Grace be the one to save him?

I'll be completely honest: I couldn't even get through this book. In fact, I think I only got about 10 or 11 percent into it, before deciding to put it down for good. I rarely DNF a book (this is only the 2nd time I've ever done so) but I just couldn't go any further.

It started with the very first scene of the novel. Grace is sobbing in a bathroom, and feeling heartbroken over the fact that the person she believes to be her soulmate has rejected her. This would be fine, except for the fact that this supposed soulmate is Mr. Sorrentino, her biology teacher, who just so happens to be happily engaged to a woman named Judy.

As unrequited as the feelings are, it was still a highly uncomfortable scene to read, and it was definitely the first indication that I would not enjoy this book. It doesn't help that Grace's one-sided feelings continue to linger, to the point where even after she meets Wade, she drafts an email to Stephen King, and instead of telling him about how much she enjoyed his novel, "It," she writes about Mr. Sorrentino instead.

That said, I did keep reading, because I wanted to give the book a fair and honest chance. Unfortunately, it didn't get any better for me.

I found Grace to be very irritating as a main character, and she read as if she was much older when she was supposed to be a high school student. I also didn't feel any spark or connection between her and Wade at all, and I had an issue with the writing as a whole. It felt like the author was trying to spell everything out as plainly as possible, and while I'm certain it wasn't the intention, it did feel a bit condescending to me, as a reader.

The last straw with this book however, was when one of the bullies that Grace rescued Wade from used some of the crudest, most derogatory language I've ever seen in a YA book. I'm generally okay with at least some profanity in a book, but this specific language (which I will not repeat, because it's truly not worth repeating) was awful, and coupled with all the other problems I had with the book up until that point, I knew I needed to DNF this book for good.

Perhaps this is a book that rewards patience and gets better later on, but for me? I can't in good conscience recommend this book to anyone.

"Slingshot" is scheduled for release on April 27, 2021. Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read this book early!

First off, Slingshot has a very similar mood to the books of Jennifer Dugan (Hot Dog Girl & Verona Comics). It is a quirky, off beat and more raw/real kind of a read. If you have read Dugan’s books and loved them this book will probably be right up your alley!

This book did a lot of things really well and there were some moments that were also hard to read for me. Overall it was a fantastic read for me and 4/5 stars. In regards to things it did well I would put character believability, sarcasm and wit, and the story in general felt very realistic. Something that was difficult for me to read was a moment of physical abuse by a parent near the end of the book. I was not expecting that and had to set the book down for a minute to process what I had read.

Okay, so the character believability, if that’s a thing, was incredible. As I was reading this I just kept thinking that these are totally things that teenagers would go through and experience, especially in this private boarding school setting. Each character had a unique voice and personality, but I personally loved our leading lady, Gracie. Reading her thoughts and reactions I could totally and completely see a kid reacting the way she does. The emotions and reactions are so real in this novel that I found myself slipping back into my high school mindset, thinking how I would have reacted to some of these situations.

The wit and sarcasm were ON POINT in this book! Mostly from Gracie but also occasionally from Beth, Wade, Derek and Georgie as well. The quick wit and sass (sometimes incredibly bitchy, but usually on point) was much appreciated as I read through things. There is one moment where the main character, Gracie, talks about how her wit and sass is only there in moments of extreme anger and I could totally relate to that. I am not sure how Mercedes Helnwein writes such great comebacks for her characters but I loved it!

The last thing that I really loved about this was story in general. The story felt very raw and real. These characters and their stories were believable and felt like things that could actually be happening at a school somewhere right now. With this raw and real writing does come the emotional ups and downs for the reader as well. I felt my mood fluctuating and changing as I read these things because it was so real and believable and that bring me into the one thing I had a very hard time reading in this book.

Near the end of the book there is a moment of some pretty severe physical abuse from a parent. I have not dealt with this in my own life, but reading it on the page was incredibly hard. It was very brief, over the course of 4 pages, but it was very real and happens to a character we grow to love as the reader. If you are triggered or suffer from trauma from abuse in your life, this might not be something you would want to pick up for that reason. I think I would have still read it if I had known it was going to happen, but I think it’s important other readers know it going in as well.

Overall, this was a wonderfully written novel and I can’t help but feel like I read someone’s actual life events. If you are looking for a raw and real contemporary novel to read this is it.

It is really tough to know where to start with this one. I loved every damn page of it. The author, Mercedes Helnwein, has this beautiful way of making you fall in love with complex characters that aren’t innately lovable on the surface.
In the middle of the Florida swamp, Slingshot is set in the least glamorous depiction of a boarding school of recent memory. Gracie navigates 24/7 high school, an unconventional family, and romantic pursuits with beautiful sarcasm and wit. I was surprised to find that a literal slingshot makes its debut as an emotional support mechanism, but it created a situation that was the perfect representation of the character that would follow. Gracie is the type of young girl you hope to identify with- badass and unapologetically herself, which is so unique for a teenage protagonist.
Her journey of growth throughout the book is not a typical young adult trajectory, and I think the fresh take, coupled with the unique voice of the author make this a MUST READ.

Mercedes Helnwein’s ‘Slingshot’ is a searing coming-of-age story that has as much humor as it does heartache.

Grace Welles is comfortably numb. Stuck at a boarding school and nursing a crush on her science teacher, she embraces her loneliness fiercely. One day, she happens to save the new kid from getting beat up, and ends up securing a best friend, whether she wants him around or not. Wade Scholfield seems unbothered by Grace’s acerbity, and seems too nice to be real. And, as he continues to be her friend in spite of her moodiness and rude comments? Grace realizes that he just might be the most important person in her life. So when she breaks his heart, for no particular reason, she finally has to grapple with who she is and why she does the things she does.

I’ll be honest when I say that ‘Slingshot’ was a difficult read for me. And not because it wasn’t brilliantly plotted or because it had one-dimensional characters. That wasn’t the problem at all; rather, it was because it’s real. Brutally so. Grace is not initially a “likable” character. You don’t really understand why she does the things she does, and it’s frustrating to be inside her head for most of the novel. But there’s an immense amount of growth that happens throughout the narrative arc, and the Grace at the end of the story is someone I’d want to know. Wade himself is a bit of a cypher, though his bond with Grace feels heartbreakingly real. But I found some of his behavior to be a bit befuddling, especially toward the end of the book.

My one major criticism with the novel is how the ending is left pretty open-ended. Without spoiling any plot points, I’ll just say that I mostly understand why Helnwein ended it how she ended it, but I was left feeling a little dissatisfied. But overall, this is a wonderful debut and I’m excited to see what Helnwein writes next.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I had things I loved about this book and things I really questioned. I loved the premise and think it gave the readers an honest look into the brain of a teenager. The ups and downs and the fake smiles they put on when their brains are scrambled with angst. I felt like it was a secret trip into a place where I wasn't normally privy too. I really struggled with understanding Gracie though. Maybe that was the point, but her actions were at time cringe worthy from an adults stand point. Still, I think this was a great look into the teenage mind and a great read for any high school teacher.

Ugh, my heart, this book was an emotional roller coaster! It did a great job of examining the complex emotions high schoolers feel. It was messy and sweet, rocky and all too familiar. I was a little unsure about Grace at the beginning of the book, but I really got pulled into the book and became so invested in Grace and Wade’s story. I mean, how can you not feel for them as they try to navigate the choppy waters of young love and growing up. And that ending...left me in all my feelings! It’s such a great book and I feel like this would be really good as a movie, too!

I really wanted to like this, but I found the dialogue stilted and unconvincing and I had to bargain with myself to keep reading until finally I couldn't anymore. I'm still not sure what the premise was

I am thinking I just wasn't the targeted demographic for this one. Based on the synopsis and marketing I expected it to be quite different than what it actually was. It was just a bit too cringey for me-I hate to say. Not a fan.

One of the worst romances (?) I've ever read.
Featuring an opening chapter where the 15 year old protagonist is convinced her teacher is her soulmate, and yells at him upon discovering he's engaged.
Um. YEAH. It's a massive yikes from me.

If any of the above was mentioned in the synopsis, which it wasn’t, I would have veered far from this book. Sure, Gracie being in love with her teacher is only a side plot in the midst of the main romance, but it was a very uncomfy aspect to add; one I feel was in no way necessary to her “character development”.

People are going to argue, “this is a book about teenagers experiencing first love and making mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes!” and yes, of course. Except my issues go way beyond the teacher plot recurring throughout the first half of the story.

~★~ What is this book about? ~★~

Gracie is a 15 year old growing more and more fed up with her life. Her father left for an entirely separate family that has no idea she and her mother exist. She attends a boarding school in which she has no friends, (is in love with her teacher while acknowledging that a relationship between them would be both illegal and pedophelic *gag*) and her mother is running low on money. When Gracie accidentally saves the new kid Wade from a fight by hitting his attackers with her slingshot, she gains an unlikely friend. Thus a romance ensues, and Gracie breaks Wade’s heart. She’s forced to undergo a reality check, and discover what she really wants out of love.

~★~

One of the main things that prevented me from enjoying this novel was that none of the characters acted their age. Maybe my high school experience was bizarre, but I’ve never heard 15 year olds curse, smoke, drink and talk about sex as casually as everyone in this book did. The four years of difference between freshmen and seniors is vast, and I think Mercedes Helnwein definitely struggled with finding that separation in maturity. Gracie sounded older than the 18 year old characters during several instances.

There were many other things I didn’t care for, and had a hard time excusing as “teenagers making dumb mistakes”. The most obvious being seniors hooking up with minors 3 years younger than them and cheating where both parties are aware they’re cheating. The word ‘love’ was thrown around too much for my liking, especially with how fast the characters would come to the realization they’re in love or get over the fact that they’re in love.

To be frank, I don’t have the energy left to criticise this book. I wouldn’t recommend it, as nothing inventive or original was presented that you can’t find in other books. There were issues I was not fond of, and it was overall an unfortunate time.

The first thing that caught my eye with this book was the cover, I LOVE the cover art. Really captures your attention!

My favorite book in high school was Catcher in the Rye and this high school coming of age story really reminded me of that, but in modern day - which I was not expecting. I was expecting a very cheesy high school love story - and this is nothing of the sort.

I don't want to give too much away but overall, the story and seeing the characters' coming of age really kept me pulled in. I surprisingly did not see the ending coming as it happened.

Overall, a solid 4 out of 5 stars!

This was my first book by this author, It was pretty enjoyable. I would give this book a 3.5 star rating! It was a pretty Quick and easy read!

Although I almost put this book down a dozen times in the first third, I’m really glad I pushed through and finished it because I actually ended up really enjoying it. Don’t get me wrong, there were so many moments I didn’t like (especially at the beginning). However, Slingshot accurately depicts the messiness of being a teenager and how much one can grow in such a short time.

Grace is resigned to hating everyone in her life and generally being someone who holds others at an arm’s length. Then she meets Wade. They get along so easily and quickly fall in love. However, she breaks his heart (and breaks her own in the meantime), and they both learn just how much first love can hurt.

Again, I really hated the beginning of this book. Like, I genuinely hated it, particularly because the protagonist wouldn’t shut up about how she and her teacher were meant to be (nothing happens between them, it’s entirely one-sided, but it was so irritating to read). I also thought that Grace alternately sounded like a fifteen-year-old and like a fifty-year-old because she would go on these really detailed psychological monologues. Don’t get me wrong, I know that teens contain multitudes but it was really hard for me to reconcile these two into one character. Add on her woe-is-me, “I’m not like other girls” attitude, and I couldn’t stand her.

I actually almost marked this dnf about a dozen times but I continued just because I wanted to see what happens. And I’m glad I did because I ended up really enjoying this book. It’s messy and melodramatic and angsty but it grows on you. So yeah, if you’re reading it and not liking it, I would suggest toughing it out because you may end up liking it like I did.

Grace grew on me; her voice shines off the page and you can’t help but empathize with her by the end of the book. While she’s bratty as hell first, she undergoes a lot of character development. She felt like a real teenager, melodramatic and annoying and angsty, but she grows from her experiences and matures throughout the book.

I also really loved Wade! He is incredibly caring and genuinely loves Grace. I also liked Beth, Grace’s friend who’s a senior. It was nice to see that, while she idolizes her, she is sure to tell Grace that she’s a normal person who just seems “cooler” because she’s older. I even ended up liking Derek even if he’s the worst for so much of the book.

I’ve read a couple of comments pointing out that this book talks about sex when the protagonist is fifteen. I don’t think there’s nothing inherently wrong with this, especially because there’s nothing super explicit. I actually liked that the book says on-page that losing your virginity doesn’t have to be a magical experience and that you don’t have to be emotionally beholden to the person you first have sex with. It’s honest and messy, yes, but it’s realistic. I’m very up-front about pointing out how there is no one, true “teenage experience,” so this is just another “version” of being a teenager, so to speak.

Slingshot is unflinchingly messy and angsty and melodramatic, as only a teenager can be. It’s not perfect by any means; I do wish there would have been parts that had been cut or changed. (For one thing, I wish they hadn’t comped to Rainbow Rowell and Mary H.K. Choi, who both write books with much older protagonists.) Overall, though, this book shows what it’s like being a fifteen-year-old navigating a world of sex and first love.

Oh my goodness, how the confusion, hormones, and just plain confusion that are the teenage years was so well captured in Mercedes Helnwein’s Slingshot.  Even the way that we just end up one day waking up and suddenly, without any clear reason, are suddenly handling life a little better at 16 than we were at 15 was really well captured.  The story itself was heartbreaking at times, with two compelling main characters who are very engaging.  The plot is fairly simple: girl meets boy, etc. etc., many life lessons are learned and we all grow up.  The ending took me by surprise, pleasantly so.  I mean, it’s not to say that I don’t enjoy a good happily-ever-after type book, but I feel many of them are too perfect, too color-in-the-lines, by-the-book.  This one, well, suffice to say that although the life circumstances of the main characters are quite unique, the messiness will resonate with many a reader.  A quick and thought-provoking read.