This book hit me really hard. The theme of depression is one pretty close to my heart. Having seen it first hand in a family quite close to me, whenever I read a book with depression I react strongly. Either I get mad because the book isn't properly portraying depression and seems to be making light of it, or I end up curling on the floor in a ball sobbing. 
 This book was the latter. And usually if a book can do that to me, I consider it a good book. To be fair, it's not actually all that hard to get me to cry. But still, this book hit somewhere deep inside, and that made me love it. 
 Now, naturally, this book won't hit all readers the way it hit me. But there is so much more than just the emotional content that made this book good. 
 1The writing! Melina Marchetta has this very distinct, pretty way of writing. It's kind of like a prose that has a tint of poetry in it, and it flows so smoothly. I noticed it also in her book, The Jellicoe Road. Her writing is easy to be caught up in. 
 2 The characters. They were almost all developed well. I loved them. Francesca, Luca, their dad, Justine, Siobhan, Thomas, and Jimmy. The only person I felt was really underdeveloped was Will, which was unfortunate. 
 3 The friendships. It's rare nowadays to read a book where there's a girl, and more than one boy, but no love triangle. Books readily turn friendships, into love triangles. This book didn't. She had friendships with two or three boys besides the main love interest, and there wasn't any tension in that regard. Those friendships were refreshing to read. 
 Her friendships with the girls as well, gave me a warm glow at times. 
 4 The Journey. This was probably my favorite part of the whole book. Francesca's journey into becoming who she is, and what she wants to be. It's so easy for us young adults to kind of lose ourselves for awhile. Sometimes we forget to be who we are and who we want to be, and try to be who we think someone else wants us to be. Francesca struggled with this particular issue quite a bit, and seeing her struggling and then coming through it was a joy. 
 There were a few negative things about this book as well. The main love interest, I found underdeveloped and dull, and sometimes Francesca as a character could be a tad whiny and annoying- though, that's human, and I can easily forgive her for it. 
 Red Flags 
 Drunk snogging. References to drugs. Innuendo. My Rating: PG13.