This my second Reid book, and I can say I am moved by how she communicates difficult feelings around sexual abuse in a way that feels representative and nuanced. The lightly fantastical setting boosts the allegorical qualities. 

This book comes so close to the highest rating but misses the mark with a few issues. The tonal shift in the latter half of the book tears away at the underlying message; I kept waiting for a subversion of expectation, but none came. The flowery language can feel pretentious when certain sentences attempt to be "deeper" than what makes sense in context. I found myself 

There are some problematic things I can't shake that prevent me from giving this a higher rating. Preston is a white knight, saying things like,

"if you were any other girl I'd fuck you because I sleep with everyone, but you're not like OTHER girls so I won't, you've been abused"

. Him acting like he knows better than her, given her trauma. Am I supposed to think it's hot that he sleeps with everything? What reason does Effy have to want him other than him just not being overtly abusive? I can't just avert my eyes from this classic casual douchbag behavior. It's disappointing that Reid's YA debut perpetuates this. 

I do recommend this book and it would make for great discussion fodder. This one will hang in my mind for a while.