This book is uplifting, but isn’t very deep at all. It’s like those emails you get of a touching story that is obviously made up because real life isn’t that simple or that contrived. I read this book because I work at Starbucks and we are going to start selling it tomorrow. I wouldn’t have read it otherwise. It’s not a bad book, though, if you’re looking for a light, easy, uplifting read. I just like material with a little more substance.

This is a hard book to read, but well worth it. Halfway through, I still didn’t really know what was going on. The further I got in the book, the more stuff made sense. I enjoyed it so much that I bought the Cliffnotes for it so I can understand it better. I want to read it again, but it will be some time before I get around to it again.

I first read this novel my senior year of highschool and remembered it being graphically sexual. I have wanted to reread it for quite some time, and I’m glad I finally have. I was absolutely engrossed with this book the second time around and found the sexuality and the violence to be much less shocking then I remembered. This is partly due to more experience and maturity on my part, and partly due to more exposure to other literature. This is a book that has forced me to contemplate life in terms that I haven’t before. This is a book that has been able to make me as happy, excited, or sad as anything I have read.