I don't think many people would describe me as being overly sentimental, but man, this book just brought out the emotions in me. 
 The writing flows. The characters are realistic. Their voices are believable. Their fears, their insecurities, their choices are so realistic, so relatable. Ok, it's a bit overdramatic towards the second half, but for the most part, this book was a really, really good read. 
 If you are a young woman growing into adulthood: you need this book. It will tell you that change is sad, change is inevitable. It is ok to feel like a fish out of water. It is ok to both want to leave the nest, and simultaneously, it's perfectly fine to fear spreading your wings and taking that initial flight. Friendships will end, love will end, but many more will take their place. It's ok to resent your family, and still want to cling on to them. 
 Hell, even a grown-ass woman like me enjoyed this book. It brought me back to my own years as a teen. I don't think there's a single grown woman out there who hasn't gone through this process of change, of growing up. This book was so beautifully bittersweet for me, it was the most wonderful of surprises. I know my friendships ended. I know I was hurt. Going into college is such a big deal, it's such a tremendous change from childhood, and I thought this book portrayed the experience perfectly. 
 I don't do contemporaries. I just don't. I find them trite. I find them boring. They make me yawn. Fuck, man, if I wanted to relive teenage high drama, I'd listen in to my sister's friends' conversations. There's enough materials in there for me to write several volumes of books (that nobody would ever want to read). Yeah, cute, but I'll pass. 
 Which is why I'm incredibly shocked at my reaction to this book: I LOVED IT. What? WHAT? Where did this come from? Did my heart grow 3 sizes over Christmas or something? No. But seriously, I really, really liked this book. It reminded me of why I love a good coming-of-age novel. The two girls in this book stand at that ever-so-precarious cusp of childhood and adulthood; this book is well-written, I felt it was realistic, and the emotional turmoil was believable. I've seen other reviews that complained about the portrayal of race and of the stereotypical "gay dad runs off to be with his lover" thing offensive, personally, I didn't have a problem with it. Ebb's got issues with her dad, yeah, but it's more due to the fact that he ran away than anything relating to homophobia, and her mom's not exactly the most wonderful of role model herself. Parents aren't perfect (gasp). They sometimes suck, and no, being gay doesn't automatically make you a perfect, awesome dad. Gay people, like straight people, can be assholes, too. 
 I know that interracial romances aren't a big deal anymore and race shouldn't be an issue, but really, it's still a sensitive issue, whether you like it or not. I love the fact that a main character has an interracial romance. I found it funny that her e-mailed buddy wonders "Omg, am I insensitive if I ask about her race because her boyfriend's name sounds black?" Please. I do that, I think we all do that, as a way of trying laughably hard to be inoffensive to someone. 
 Let's say I just made a new friend, she's telling me she's dating someone named "Kim," offhandedly. In my mind, I'm going, shit, shit, shit, is Kim a guy or a girl? I don't care if my new friend is a lesbian but I want to know so I don't inadvertently make a wrong assumption and offend her! WE ALL DO THIS, GUYS! It's one of those things that nobody ever admits to, and I find it realistic enough and well-written enough not to be offended by it. 
 Summary: Simple enough. Two girls, Elizabeth (EB) and Lauren (Lo) gets assigned to be each other's roomies next year at University of California, Berkeley. It is June, and they've been given contact information so that they can get to know each other before school starts. 
 It doesn't start out that well. EB grew up in New Jersey, she is an only child, her mother is a bitter real estate agent with a weakness for married men. It is a quiet, isolated, lonely life. Her father came out of the closet (after he got married and had kids), only to run away to San Francisco, leaving his wife and daughter. EB is the warmer character, she is the first to reach out to Lauren, oversharing a little bit as she goes. She is excited to start school, she is enthusiastic to meet her roommate, Lauren... 
 ...who doesn't really want to be roommates with EB. 
 When I got the full scholarship I knew it would probably be pressing my luck to ask for a single, but the box was there to check so I checked it. A "roomie" is really not what I had in mind. Really not what I had in mind at all. 
 You see, Lauren's kind of had it up to HERE with sharing a room. She wanted a single room (pfft, good luck getting a single room as a freshman at any of the UCs). The last thing she wants is a roommate---why? Because she's been sharing a room for most of her life. Lauren's life is chaos, because she's got five younger siblings. She shares a room with two of them, one who is barely more than a toddler. She has parents, but they are up to their neck in work in order to support such a large family, and Lauren acts more like a parent to her little sisters and brothers, more often than not. She also holds two jobs; getting the scholarship to Berkeley was her way out of her chaotic home, and Lauren was looking forward to peace and quiet until the email from EB came along. 
 We hear from the two as they get off to an awkward start, with misunderstandings as neither of them want to come off as the "strange" one. They grow with each other through the summer, as they slowly open up to each other about their lives, their fears, the events in their lives. 
 It's not all smooth sailing. Their relationship, as with all long-distance relationships, are full of miscommunications, and things they wish they said, or didn't say. Overall, it is a beautifully written book, with wonderful dynamics between friends and family. 
 The Characters: This book stands on the merits of its main characters. I loved both characters in this book, along with their respective love interests. Douchebags? Nope, no douchebags here. The guys in this book are wonderfully supportive, and so freaking sweet and nice. 
 We see things from their respective POVs throughout the book, each girl has her alternate chapter, told in their first-person narrative voices. I never got lost between the girls, I never had trouble telling who from whom. Really, the characters and their coming of age was a joy to read. I understood EB's feelings about her boyfriend...you know, that high school sweetheart you once had. What will become of that relationship once you are separated? 
 I should break up with him, I know. Because I don't feel that way about him anymore, if I ever did. But it hardly seems worth the effort when college can do the breaking up for me. The path of least resistance is a path I know well, having trod it in circles around my mother for years. 
 And not just the boyfriend, the friends. The best friend. What will happen to you when you are separated by distance, leading separate lives? 
 She'll be going off to Seattle University soon, anyway. In some ways it feels like no big deal. We've had our good years and our bad years and always wind up as solid as ever with no major drama. In other ways, it seems we've already started to say good-bye. 
 A lot of our conversations are about memories. 
 I've been there. We've all been there. Best friends, good friends. One day, you're best friends, the next time you see them at Thanksgiving break, they're almost strangers. It is a shock to the system, and it is what this book does so well. It reinforces us. 
 Really. My feelings. They're just all over the place right now.