I think what intrigued me most about this story is that it's written as if Nell, the narrator, is talking directly to her sister Layla. Nell's need to be involved in every aspect of Layla's life, and her subsequent confusion over why Layla only ever speaks to her when she needs Nell to cover for her with their parents is beautifully illustrated. The first-person point of view gives a visceral account of what it's like to be so close to someone for so long and then inexplicably pushed away. Reinhardt's writing style is superb, as is the voice she has found for sixteen-year-old Nell.
The difficult part for me, though, is the lack of resolution. It's not even that I am unhappy with how things turned out; it's that I'm frustrated with the story ending before anything can happen. It was incredibly frustrating to be pulled in to Nell's thoughts so deeply and then be abruptly tossed out before there is any sort of solid ending. I know real life doesn't always have a happy ending, and I'm okay with that. It's hard to reconcile that with, what felt like to me, no ending at all.
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