3.5 stars. A lovely little book that unfortunately suffers from the tragic condition of over-hyping. That said, I probably would have loved this book when I was 15 (and obsessed with both The Perks of Being a Wallflower, as well as the uber-tragedy of Lurlene McDaniel). The super-literate, highly idealized portrayal of inner teenage life and speak would have been right up my alley. As an adult, I can mostly get past the un-reality of it all and just enjoy (and yes, cry at) the message that life is all we get and that's (to paraphrase George R.R. Martin) both our tragedy and our glory.