Oh ho ho. This book is uncannily, eerily reminiscent of my own feelings and experiences at the same age, not least because I lived in England for a year when I was sixteen. Don't feel bad if you haven't read every book she refers to: I've read maybe a third, and the book still made perfect sense. Vonnegut's "Cat's Cradle" is an important subtext, and Tolkien, but beyond that you can kind of fake it. It made me realize that I only remember a small portion of what I read at that age, and it made me want to dip into the SF of that era once again. 
 What intrigues me most is that it could be so compelling while having virtually no plot. It restores my faith in publishing, just a little. I had been grumping along about how plot trumps good writing (and it so often does! Discouragingly often!), but this book shows 'em. 
 It's intensely character-driven -- bull-headedly so. Sometimes it's frustrating how little Mor tells us. The details of what she and her sister did to stop her mother, for example. I hoped there would be a solid flashback to that at some point, but there never was. And that one, minuscule reference to her real name (hope that's not too spoiler-y while being comprehensible to people who've read it). WOW. That was a bit like being stabbed, and there's no followup at all. I don't intend that as criticism, exactly; I'm more amazed that she pulled it off. 
 The diary aspect is done incredibly well. Clearly Walton has been reading her own diaries from that age, because it's perfect: the oblique references to things she's arguing in her head but hasn't written down, the non sequiturs, the juxtaposition of inane and transcendent. 
 I love the way magic is used. It's unique, and if feels right. It feels like something I've experienced too, even if I didn't think of it as literal magic. That web of connection between people, places, and things. I really liked it. Was the confrontation at the end literally true or in her head? I think it doesn't matter. It was REAL, even if it was "just" in her head. It's a battle we've all fought, the battle for differentiation, for self, against those who would bind us. 
 I'll be thinking about this one for a long time to come.