Justina Chen writes amazingly beautiful prose. ( )

Rebecca is getting ready to experience freedom. She'll be leaving soon to attend Columbia University in NYC, giving her some space she desperately needs because her family is smothering her. Even though she'll be creating a 3,000 mile gap between herself and her first real boyfriend, Jackson, taking this risk is worth the possibility of the relationship failing to survive. Maybe, once she's free of her parents, Rebecca might be able to be herself the way she wants to.
Dad and mom blow her plans up in a hurry when he takes a job in Manhattan and they decide to move to New Jersey. Things get a lot worse when they make the move and Rebecca discovers her father is in the midst of a full-blown affair and is going to dump his family for a much younger woman. Not only does this threaten her college plan because the family finances begin to look really precarious, but her plan, adopted reluctantly in the first place (to follow in her father's footsteps and become an architect designing big box fancy projects), starts to fall apart as well, when her interview for a summer internship at a prestigious architectural firm, results in her being humiliated.
Rebecca inherited the family gift, or is it a curse, which both her mother and her grandmother have where they can 'experience' things that predict the future. Rebecca had it hit her for the first time when she realized her best friend's dad was going to die of cancer well ahead of when everyone else expected him to. She shared that with her friend who became so freaked, it severely strained the friendship. Since then, she's tried to hide her ability, even from Jackson, for fear she'll have another disastrous experience. Besides, she saw how the 'gift' hurt her grandparent's marriage.
When her grandfather arrives and hauls Mom, Rebecca and her younger brother off to his place in Hawaii, it's the beginning of an amazing journey of self-discovery, one that allows Rebecca to learn what she really wants and how her passions can meld with the whole architecture thing, develop the courage to take a year off to discover what her passions truly are and realize how important her feelings for Jackson are, despite her fears about the fragility of relationships.
I admit that I was put off early in the book by the seeming illogic of having the family move all the way across the country if Dad planned to dump them. Why not just make the break while they're in their familiar home and lessen the trauma. However, by the time I finished the book, this wasn't nearly as big an issue because what happened after the move was a very interesting voyage of growth and self discovery. Teens who like offbeat romances, stories with a dash of magical realism, or who have had soured relationships (either their own or their parents) will really like this book. ( )

This book is very different from what I usually read, but I'd still recommend it to my friends. It's a story that really just sucks you in. 4Q4P The cover art is okay and I'd recommend this to middle school and high school students. I chose to read this book because the title interested me. DanaS

This book was really good, interesting, and pretty funny. 3Q3P The cover art is okay and I'd recommend this for high school students. I chose to read this book because I liked the cover and title. RyleighG

A little too dramatic for me, and I didn't find the MC to be that likable or to even have much of a personality. Characters could have been more developed, and I think it could have done without the epilogue. But it was okay. ( )