Me from 96% onwards:



There are very few books that make me cry. I'm not a heard-hearted asshole; I am simply in the "I've seen sadder things" phase of my life. But this book made me tear the fuck up. This book was hard to put down--I read this every chance I could in all the breaks I had during my 8-hour shift at work.

Let's get one thing straight: this book isn't a book that condones incest of the brother/sister kind. This book is simply about two young people who were forced to grow up too soon because their irresponsible alcoholic of a mother abandons her five children to galavant around town like a teenager.

Lochan, 17, and Maya, 16, have to step in as parents to their three younger siblings Kit, Tiffin, and Willa. Their real parents abandon them: their father flew off to Australia to be with his new family and their mother is barely home because she is always out partying with her divorcee boyfriend Dave. When rebellious 13-year-old Kit stays out past curfew, Lochan goes out into the night to search for him. When Tiffin and Willa are missing from school because their hungover mother couldn't pick them up, Maya nearly goes crazy tracking down her siblings. When Willa broke her arm and had to be taken to the hospital, Lochan and Maya struggle not to raise the suspicions of Child Services. It's stressful, not very rewarding, and thankless for the two eldest Whitelys.

The author presents Lochan and Maya's dysfunctional relationship in a way that doesn't seem too far-fetched, but not too convenient either. They are constantly battling with the morality of their decisions, questioning how their love is illegal, and how life is so unfair for them. It's easy to empathize with the characters; they are quite well-written and wholly human.

I highly suggest reading this book, even if this sort of taboo squicks you. I swear, it's not what you think it is. It's not lewd or gratuitious; it's actually heart-shattering.