** spoiler alert ** 
 This damned thing is probably worth two or three stars for being imaginative and well-written. Really interesting voice and fully realized characters. 
 I'll hide the review for the spoiler, but I'm so sick of rape and child rape as the path to critical acclaim in 'serious' lit that this needs to be my last. I should wait a few days after finishing to write a review because all I have for this author is considerable profanity-laced scorn. I don't want an MPAA-style ratings guide for books, but I need some way of avoiding this kind of trash. 
 What a jerk.