I think I hit the Dessen peak at the very beginning, because I read The Truth About Forever first, and nothing's quite come close to that since. That being said, though, I did really like Mclean and Dave and Deb and all the rest; being a product of too-many-moves-to-count myself, even with parents who are still happily married, I can relate to Mclean's need to start over and be someone else in each place. Would I have done such a thing? No. Do I think her freak-out when her friends found out justified? Not really - I don't see why she couldn't have just explained everything then and there instead of running away. But all in all it's a good book, and if it's your first Dessen story, please don't be discouraged, because she really does have others that are so much better.