I stalled so hard on this book. Mostly because it's terrible, but also because my life is insane right now and I'm finding it hard to concentrate on anything. 
 (But mostly because it's terrible.) 
 I think people love this book because of the way it makes them feeeeeel. It's a highly romanticized account of a family of settlers in a magical town known as something (I forget what because I don't care). But nothing really...happens. And while some of my favorite books are ones in which stuff doesn't really happen, those other books have characterization or relatable internal dialogue or some other component with a depth that makes reading it worthwhile, whereas this book doesn't delve much beyond the surface of things and seems only to rely on a kind of quirkiness to make its characters appear interesting when in fact, no they are not. I had similar issues with Jonathan Safran Foer's Everything Is Illuminated, which is probably why I didn't care for that book very much, either. 
 Anyway, sorry to all my friends who liked this book. I still love you even though I think you're cray.