** spoiler alert ** 
 This book, for me, was hard to rate. I absolutely loved the first chapter; I was hooked right from the beginning. The writing style was absolutely fabulous. It was super twisty. The way the author would repeat words or use a carefully placed metaphor painted a beautiful picture of the plot. 
 I also was really intrigued by the setting of the girls' prison. It was so sad that, even though (most of) the girls there had done terrible things, they were treated so terribly. It was heartbreaking to hear the thoughts and know the feelings of some of the "inmates." 
 I was surprised to find in this book ghosts and people who could see the future. I picked up this book because the blurb said one of the characters was a ballet dancer. However, the paranormal-ness fit right in and I loved that almost spooky aspect of the novel. 
 Unfortunately, about halfway through, I became somewhat disenchanted with the book. 
 Vee at first was, to me, a very likable character, but as we delved deeper into the conflict behind the story, we started to see that Vee was in truth a terrible, horrible, selfish, and conceited person. The description given earlier in the book about Vee and Ori's friendship led me to imply that they loved each other unconditionally. They seemed to be two girls who had each other's backs no matter what. Ori refused to progress to dancing on pointe until Vee was also allowed to move up, that sort of thing. However, it was later discovered that Vee had always been bitterly jealous of her best friend. She wouldn't even let her "best friend" try on her ballerina bracelet-- a bracelet Ori was innocently in awe of-- for fear that Ori would "lose it" even if they were just in Vee's bedroom. And as soon as her best friend was carted off to jail, Vee began plotting to take over Ori's role in their ballet showcase. Who the flip does that?! 
 Ori's character also felt very misleading to me. She is described as being an angel who befriends everyone, doesn't have a mean bone in her body, is very forgiving, and would protect Vee no matter the cost. When Ori was framed for doing something she didn't, it is said in the book that she refused to speak to defend herself, and it is inferred that it was because she was defending someone else. I was shocked when Ori suddenly changed from being a protective, selfless best friend to being a murderous, hateful grudge-holder. The change happened so fast. One minute, she was sacrificing her life to defend Vee's, and the next she's drawing angry pictures of Vee and wishing she would die and "rot in ****". It was a hard switch to believe. 
 Throughout the whole story, I was on the edge of my seat wondering what really happened to Ori and Vee. When we found out that Vee was the one who actually committed the murder, and then let her best friend take all the blame, I was disappointed, to say the least. It was obvious that Vee had had some hand in the event but I was expecting (and hoping) that both girls had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. I really was expecting to find out that they were both innocent. 
 And the ending. My goodness, what a fast end to a suspenseful read. It definitely came out of nowhere. The ghosts of the girls in the prison, aided by Ori's living boyfriend, murdered Vee and essentially switched her with Ori so that Ori could live the life she was meant to live. Vee essentially 'got was she deserved'. I think it was supposed to feel like justice-- Ori was innocent and Vee was guilty and now they are where they both belong. But it just felt like revenge. I was (once again) expecting and hoping for a reconciliation between the friends and forgiveness so that Ori could rest in peace. Yeah, I didn't get that. The book ended in murder and more hate and, though it made the prison girls happy, the message seemed twisted and not very moral. Fight fire with fire! But, hey, maybe that was what the author was going for. I don't know. 
 All in all, the book was written extremely well, in a very unique writing style, and the setting was fantastic, but the end was a (major) let down. It was almost as if the book began healthily and slowly died; the characters got more and more crazy and the plot got darker and darker. Maybe the characters were supposed to be confusing and contradict their earlier selves. After all, it is a book in which the reader doesn't know who's innocent until the last few chapters of the book. Maybe the end was supposed to make me feel a little sick in my soul. Maybe it was a metaphor or something. I don't know. But I do know that the ending just wasn't right for me personally. I gave this book four stars because, regardless of its many faults, it sucked me in and kept me captivated, and I loved the words and the paranormal tidbits (seeing the future, ghosts, etc.).