Let me be clear, this book had some major flaws, basically the whole thing with Martin. And I know that from a narrative standpoint, he was there to show the contrast between the rapist and a regular guy. It's really hard for me to believe that the adults at the school believe that it's some kind of utopia there. But from a narrative standpoint, if the adults weren't so stupid, there would be no need for The Mockingbirds, right? The flaws just stand out to me as a writer, I can't turn that part of my brain off, all the flaw are technical flaws, as in if I had written this book it would have been different. But I didn't write this books, so... nothing I can do about that. 
 But let me also be clear, despite these flaws, I really loved this book. I read it at a point in time where I just needed to hear some things that the author had written. I've never gone through something as traumatic as rape, but this books is just for if you've gone through some things, some pretty heavy things to deal with, it validates that what you're feeling isn't unnatural. There are just some books, for all their flaws, you have to pick them up and they speak to you. Even if you're going through something that's completely different, there are phases and characters and character dynamics that just speak to you. And maybe they wouldn't have spoken to you if you had picked it up at a different time, but it for me, this spoke to me now, when I needed it the most. And for that, this book gets 4.5 stars because this is what YA novels try to do, flaws and all, they try to speak to you when you need it the most. And for me, I definitely needed it.