2.5 stars. i'm so torn in my rating of these books. i'm totally loving them, but completely recognize their shortcomings (and there are many and they are significant). really enjoyed the detail in the living that this book has, and really didn't like the drawn out romantic tug-of-war that went on. good themes of mis/communication, individuality, racism again, and finding community, but definitely over the top around the relationships. still, again, it was impossible to put down and i think i dreamt of it nightly.