I liked the uniqueness of Sydney's situation - having a brother in prison and how that affects her family. I didn't enjoy the sense of dread throughout, wondering what would happen with Ames. I thought the writing was a bit uneven, some pretty ordinary stuff, but then some brilliant lines too, especially near the end. I haven't noticed this in Dessen's other works, though it's probably true there too, but I felt a little thrown off by the made-up versions of real things - TV shows, or yum yums for dum dums, for instance. I guess having real terms can make a book more dated, or maybe it's a copyright thing?