I think the only thing I find more tiresome than cliched teen romances are teen romances that try half-heartedly to be more. Marquardt does put in some effort to be socially aware, making the girl a victim of violent crime, the boy an unwilling gang member facing deportation, both of them traumatized and misunderstood. THese are important things to talk about, to get into the consciousness of the average reader. The problem is that it is all very surface representation. And their problems miraculously resolve themselves as is convenient for the plot.