Apparently I fail when it comes to staying away from depressing, ever so slightly morbid books. My ability to not read sad stuff just doesn't exist. However, I'm pleased to announce that my ability to not cry while reading sad books has greatly improved. 
 To further, more important points, I'd forgotten a great deal of this book since reading it last year. I'd forgotten my moral dilemma with this book. By the end of the book last time, I'd been so happy with the ending and that was what stayed with me. I forgot all the muck between the beginning and the end. And, I must admit, it proved a bit more uncomfortable for me now. The endless sexual innuendo, and the blatant immorality of the characters was very difficult to deal with. 
 But then, as I think about all that, I also think about how maybe that was all there just to show how things changed in the main character. How the first Friday she was so shallow, so cruel, and so selfish to how by the final Friday, she had improved. The character development in this book is really the best part of this book. The characters in general, actually. They deserve a paragraph. 
 Lauren Oliver is so good at showing the good, and the bad. Instead of the cliched mean girls with no hearts and no humanity, she shows the popular girls in all their shallowness, but also shows the parts of them worth loving. As Sam grows in her understanding of them, she still loves them as her friends, and sees why she loves them, because it isn't all that they are popular and make her the same. This book shows every character in such a realistic light. Every single one. The minor ones like Anna, Bridget, Tara, Izzy, the teachers. And that's one of the reasons I love this book so much. 
 The next thing is the plot, which is brilliant. I adore Groundhog's Day plots. I love trying to figure out what the main character will have to do to get out of the endless cycle. And this one, this book possibly had one of the best endings in that regard. So good. 
 So, you see, this book deserves a high rating in my books. It really does. The question I struggle with is how many stars to take away for the uncomfortable behavior of the characters, and whether it works to show the difference from the beginning of the book to the end, or if it's just plain blegh. 
 ... I don't think I have the heart to drop it from four stars. Because the ending is just that good.