I really respect Ellen Hopkins as a writer, but this was not my favorite one. Actually, several things about this book rubbed me the wrong way. It's probably my least favorite of hers thus far, and I rolled my eyes so much it was kind of hard to get through in some parts. 
 I am not religious, and my primary source of Mormon information is the Broadway show Book of Mormon, but still, I don't think this book had a fair depiction of the Mormon religion. For one thing, I'm pretty sure that mainstream Mormons (as in Latter-Day Saints) do not wear homemade clothes as a community. I feel like Hopkins got the crazy cult sects (who are fundamentalist Mormons and bear little relation to the LDS group) mixed up with regular Mormon people, who, although I have no evidence to back this up, I would think are probably about as abusive/woman-hating as the rest of the population. It seemed that Hopkins used Mormonism as a vehicle for the abuse when it could have just been a regular abusive family. Why bring religion into it? I don't see that it added anything, and it really detracted from the story for me. 
 I also am increasingly irritated by the way young love is portrayed in Hopkins' books. It's either TRUE LUV OMG 4-LYFE or it's so bad that it turns abusive at some point. Also, sex is always portrayed as either fantastic or rape, which bears little resemblance to the gray scale of real life, especially for a young person who doesn't know what the hell is going on yet. I get that these stories are fiction, but seriously. It doesn't have to be glorious sex to be an okay thing for the kids to be doing. 
 And something about Aunt J was really obnoxious to me. I can't put my finger on why and it's probably just a weird personal association. 
 Also, I haven't read the reviews, but since she just published a sequel, I bet most people would agree with this: The ending was ridiculous and confusing. A cliffhanger is not as clever as some authors seem to think it is. Not impressed. 
 Still - there were some positive aspects. The writing was the story's greatest strength, and I think all the characters are shown fully. The plot was as twisty and interesting as I have come to expect from this author. On the whole, though, not the greatest.