Woof.
I finished this only because it was so short and quick, but I have no idea what the heck this was about, what happened or why I should have cared about any of these people.

My thanks to NetGalley and ABRAMS Kids Amulet Books for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.

Errr...whut? This book was more confusing then it needed to be I think. It makes sense, but only after a LOT of heavy thinking that brings the thinker to the conclusion, "well, THAT was unnecessary".

Unreliable narrator, so the mystic realism could just be their lack of connection to reality and all in their head, or it could be real. I think more on the side of real, but it was really painful to get there.

The characters were rather distasteful and strange in a way that didn't click with me. I get the whole teenage rebellion thing, but it kind of annoys me, so I wasn't overly sympathetic with the older sister. The parents were rather distant, which annoys me in books like this. I don't think children/teens need any more reinforcement of the idea that adults, especially parents, just don't understand or care to.

This is geared towards kids and I don't really think it is good for that age. Maybe YA, BUT the whole reinforces adults/parents as stupid and unable to show their caring in effective ways is not a good message to send. I also think the mystical realism might throw a younger reader. It threw me, but who knows, I may just be one of those stupid adults the book is talking about. Maybe a teen could understand this better. I am getting old and crusty.

So, 1.5 stars, rounded up to 2, because I didn't hate it, but I really didn't like it all that much. Mileage may very. I'm not into magical realism, so this didn't work for me. It may work for you. It's a short book, so it has that going for it.