I was loving this book - until the end. I felt as though it was just too easy an ending. Things don't work that way, unfortunately.

Willow is a cutter - and not a recreational one, either. I was a little taken aback by the message the book sent about keeping secrets that could hurt others, but I was willing to let it go if in the end Hoban made it up to me. She didn't.

Mental disorders don't magically go away. ( )

I could not get past the first 50 pages. ( )

I read a few books lately involving teens who have experienced loss of family members. This one would seem to be the most tragic. Willow gets into a car accident while driving her parents home from a party (they had too much to drink). Willow survives the accident, but both of her parents die. Willow's older brother, David & his pregnant wife, Cathy take Willow in and become her guardians. Willow turns to cutting to help her avoid dealing with her emotional pain. When Willow meets Guy and he discovers her secret, she is forced to deal with all the feelings she has been trying so desperately to avoid. ( )

Eight months ago Willow and her parents got into a horrible car crash. And, unfortunately because her parents decided to drink a little bit too much, Willow was the one behind the wheel and the only one who survived. She is forced to move in with her much older brother, his wife and their new baby girl. Consumed with grief, and worst of all, guilt Willow starts to cut herself. It is the only escape she knows until she meets Guy who helps her overcome her self harm.

I’m not going to lie, I cringed every single time she cut. The author describes it so vividly it almost felt like I was there with Willow whenever it happened. And although it was slightly uncomfortable at times, I really did like the vividness. It made the book seem real. I felt like the book progressed perfectly. Willow and Guy don’t automatically become best friends and fall in love, which seems to happen in quite a few books, nor does Willow stop cutting all of a sudden just because she meets Guy. It takes time for them to trust each other completely, but once they do it’s perfect.

Both Willow and Guy are great characters. Despite everything she’s been through, it doesn’t feel like Willow is complaining when she talks about her problems which is great since I can’t stand when all characters do is whine, whine, whine. As for Guy, he is fantastic. He is caring and sweet, but also tough. He doesn’t give up on Willow no matter how hard or how many times she tries to push him away.

I originally bought this for my friend as her Christmas present a while back. But instead of giving it to her I decided to give her the first book in the Pretty Little Liars series and keep this one for myself. Kind of bad, I know, but I’m so glad I did. ( )

OK I gave up on this because I was tired of the teenage angst although if we ever have a cutter on campus I will have to tell Bon about it. "I killed my parents" every other chapter (she was driving a car during an accident)...I can't carry on a decent conversation with ANYONE and act like a ditz (as in a girl asks where the library in her school is and she starts to take her to a university one where she works rather than the one in her school) ....I need to cut myself constantly.....I realize that this is a problem with some girls and for them I am sure that this is a worthwhile book although it never really explains why she gets some much out of doing it, unless of course that happened in the 2nd half of the book. Seems the boyfriend got way to involved also so definitely not a book for us. ( )