this book was going to get a full-throated five star howl from me...but that ending... it was as if the winner of the miss universe pageant, still smiling her vaseline-assisted smile, took a sudden, proud dump on the runway. 
 i just... i can't.... 
 wow. 
 here's the thing - i realized once i got to work the other day that i had planned poorly, and the book i had brought with me would be finished on my lunch break, so i needed to borrow something from work that would tide me over, because i do not like looking at people on the subway. it is unpleasant. so i grabbed a bunch of books from the YA new releases section that i knew nothing about, and this is the one that made the cut. 
 and at first, it was fanfreakingtastic. 
 is her writing flawless? no, not by a long shot, but i was so caught up in the momentum of the story, it mattered not one bit. this is totally the kind of book i would have devoured in my youth, and i was thrilled to see that it still had the same enjoyment for me. seriously - word puzzles. love them. love. them. when i was little, i burned through all those peggy parish books about liza, bill, and jed where they would receive elaborate clues and follow them to treasure. they were the best thing ever. and every easter, the easter bunny would come to my house and distribute clues throughout my house which would lead me to my easter basket. the easter bunny was a big fan of puns, if i recall. and i loved that feeling - the moment when i figured out the clue, and i would race to the location of my next clue. i was always a little saddened when i got to the end of the hunt, but was quickly consoled by delicious easter chocolate. mmmm... 
 and last year or whenever, when i discovered the westing game, it was such a wonderful nostalgic burst of that feeling - the voyage of discovery, of solving the clues as i read. wonderful. 
 and this gave me that feeling. a girl who has survived a life of parental neglect and who came up through the foster care system, having been placed in a truly horrible group home, loses her twin brother in a car crash. three weeks after his death, she receives a letter that could only have come from him, filled with clues that lead her back on a journey through her past, as she reconnects with a boy who was in the group home with her, and they try to figure out if her brother is still alive, and what he is trying to tell them. word puzzles abound! logic puzzles abound!! love story abounds!! but who cares about that part. 
 it is all about the clues, leading them on a genuinely fun (for me - not them; their situation is frequently perilous) journey, as the mysteries of their connected past and their bizarre present unfold. so fun. love it. 
 and then. 
 ddduuuuuummmmmmppppp. 
 wow. i mean, there were inklings of IT throughout. and i guessed half of IT, because IT was not hidden or anything, but the second half of that twist? twisted lemon juice in my eye and i cursed it. i suppose it isn't the worst ending ever - it does tie up all of the loose bits, so i couldn't feel cheated per se, but i just had to laugh and laugh. it was unfortunate, because all of the mystery parts were so much fun and such a joy to me! it was like getting to my easter basket and finding it completely gluten-free. carob?? CAROB??? 
 so - yeah - read this book and enjoy the parts that are great, but understand that at the end, you are going to be the one mopping up that runway. wear gloves.