I love this book so much, but I loathe the ending. Even after all the hopelessness, helplessness and heartbreak, I wanted a good ending for these kids together, because they earned it, damnit. I'm not sure if Lou and No's relationship was meant to be romantic, but I sure read it that way, and this could have been a great polyamorous YA novel, if Lou was at least 2 years older or something. This way I feel a little weird about her dating Lucas, because maybe 4 years isn't a lot later, but it still is when one of them is 14.

I also loved the slightly stream of consciousness style of the writing, and Lou was a great narrator. I don't know if she was meant to be autistic, because it's not named on the page, but she certainly appears as such.

tw: neglectful parents, mention of rape, infant death, depression, homelessness ( )