I really struggled between liking and not liking this book, mainly because the themes in the story are excellent discussion points. What disappointed me was my expectation that Ms. Diffenbaugh's writing and character development would be as great as it was in "The Language of Flowers." This is not up to her previous quality.

The areas that detracted from the story was the character of the mother and her young daughter; their behavior was almost frenetic without any let-up. The mother, although she did develop in the end, was unlikeable. She wasn't unlikeable because of her many flaws, but I couldn't imagine her having a friend like the one she had (which was not developed at all, just a name). I would have like to see an argument between the both of them, something to clue me in on why they'd be best friends, other than the friend is a convenient babysitter.

The characterizations of the grandparents were interesting and I found them to be realistic. The uniqueness of the grandfather's hobby and his relationship to his grandson provided some depth and much interest to the story.

I found myself skimming over the parts of the mother so I could read about her son and his girlfriend. Their characters had a poignancy about them that kept you reading and rooting for their relationship very unlike the relationship between the mother and her love interests.

Too much plot points started to confuse me. This story would be an excellent YA novel if the plot only zeroed in on Alex (the son), his girlfriend Ysenia, and their story.