A beautiful cover, a poetic blurb, but the book itself does not reach my expectations. Brenna Yovanoff's previous works were enjoyable for me, but this book fell short. 
 It was very disappointing. None of the characters in the book appealed to me. The murder plot was secondary and not gripping, despite supposedly being the center point of the book. Finny was not all that appealing for an anti-hero of sorts, Hannah is weird, weak, and dull as dishwater despite her penchant for dressing quirkily. Her personality is a reflection of her clique's style, and not her own; I could not connect with her, Hannah is completely spineless and devoid of spark. 
 Lillian, the anorexic dead girl and Hannah's best friend was more interesting, even if she was a very irritating ghost. It irked me that Hannah didn't just speak up and vent some anger instead of just taking everything inside. For me, a main character should have inner strength. If he or she lacks it at the beginning, she should at least grow and become stronger through subsequent experience or from an inner revelation. It doesn't feel like Hannah grew up at all. I never felt like she stood up for herself or did anything extraordinary, things happened more as a coincidence than as a consequence of her own actions. The weakness of the main character made the dull plot plod even more slowly, resulting in a very dull reading experience.