“Nothing about her pain is remotely original —and yet it still hurts”

This book broke my heart, and I could not put it down. I completely understand why it’s been so well-reviewed — the hype is 100% deserved.

“I am sixteen years old. I am a human being.”

That’s what Sarah knows for certain — everything else is not quite clear. She thought she knew what her family was: a hard-working mom, an asshole dad, and a brother that abandoned them all six years ago. But after an incident at school, which Sarah quits attending, secrets begin to tumble out and she learns that she really knows nothing at all.

I had a little trouble with Sarah at first — she’s obsessed with art and originality and comes off as very pretentious. Like, she decides to secretly change her name to Umbrella. But I’m glad that I stuck with it because the more I learned about her, the more I understood. It’s hard to review this book without spoiling a lot of the major revelations, but I will say this: accept the elements of magical realism straight off. Don’t try to decipher the how or why, and just listen to Sarah’s story. It’s an incredible one.