There were many reasons this book did not work for me. I have read the author many times in the past few years and usually enjoy her books. There was one surprise, though, I decided to stick with it all the way through to give it justice, and I think it had a very good ending. A learning lesson, if you will.
Freckles(Allegra Bird), as she calls herself, has had a disturbed upbringing; she has always found herself at a distance from those who are considered more mainstream. This has left her feeling like an underachiever, and it was almost painful to see the kind of experiences she puts herself through to reach a truce with herself.
She is leading a remarkably mundane life (or so we assume) when she is proposed an idea about the closest people surrounding a person influencing the way they are. The idea grips her like nothing before, and she sets out trying to make sense of her own list.
It is not a bad book, and her experiences are not to be scoffed at; they sound very realistic. I did not enjoy the reading experience because of all this. The lead character is not likeable, even with all the self-doubt and her growth arc was slow (even if it reached a satisfying conclusion). I have seen quite a few glowing recommendations on the blogosphere to know that I am probably just the wrong kind of audience for a book like this.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.
Superfluous Reading 