I admit, I picked this one thinking it would be a fun piece of chick lit fluff (nothing wrong with that, right?) Instead I was surprised to find myself genuinely moved by Olivia's story as she's suddenly forced to grow up fast. It's fascinating to watch Olivia change from being a self absorbed and shallow brat, to accepting her responsibility towards her orphaned little sister Celia, and growing to love Celia despite herself. There are plenty of laugh out loud scenes (for example, Olivia's obnoxiousness in her English Lit class), but just as many tender moments, such as Olivia watching Celia on the playground and thinking how cute she is, then realizing she never would have had that thought a few months ago. My one gripe with the novel, bringing my rating down to four stars instead of five, is the lack of any real exploration of Olivia's feelings about her father's death. It is established that they weren't close; even so, realistically she would have experienced *some* grief. A perfect set up for this - Olivia discovering that her father had kept and used an ugly paperweight she made for him as a small child - was basically glossed over, and the subject never came up again. That flaw aside, this was a wonderful and touching read.
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