I debated on my rating of this book a lot. It was always somewhere inbetween 3-4 stars. This is not a perfect novel. The meandering, character-based plot continually had me thinking about what the main action was, and there isn't really. Which is also why I loved it. 
 I am at a point in my life right now where this book was right for me. Gearing up to enter my last semester as an undergraduate I could relate to the characters (even if I didn't always like them) in the sense that the world is a wide open place, and I'm not really sure my place in it. As a bibliophile, the focus on books also appealed to me (although it was a lot less intregal than I thought it would be). Yes, I was frustrated because of course they're at an Ivy. Why would you write a book about college kids and not have them in an Ivy? That's where all the really important thinking goes on right? But there are still universals. But, there are always going to be Thurstan Meems in life, regardless of where you are. 
 I didn't always like Madeline, Leonard, and Mitchell. But I was always compelled by them. They were always real, flaws and all. 
 I loved the ending.