Mark this as another time I wish we had the ability to give half-stars. It wasn't a full four, but it wasn't a three, either. Since it captivated me to the point I couldn't put it down, it gets rounded up.This is not an easy story to read. It's not your typical young adult romance. And it doesn't give you a chance to settle in before ripping your heart out of your chest.It might have been predictable (or maybe I've just read too many stories with foretelling and mystery), but for the first time it didn't bother me that I had it figured out before the Big Reveals. I was so engrossed with Maggie and her friends, with watching them find their way through every stage of grief, Maggie's struggle with her repressed memories, everyone struggling to try and find normal again in a world tossed upside down. To handle their own mortality in a time when they should be focused on having the whole world ahead of them.I also had a healthy amount of rage towards Joey. Well, maybe not rage. But I did want to go into the story and kick his nuts into his throat. Especially during the end scene, when the biggest reveal came. He was, in a word, a tool, a narcissist, and while it was devastating for Maggie - in a sense, losing him twice - I was glad to see her come away with the right mental approach about putting people on pedestals. There were times I shuddered to think of what her life would be if those blinders hadn't been pulled from her eyes.
