I hesitated to read this based on the subject matter but as I was flipping through books I thought I would read the first few chapters just to see if I should bother....I ended up finishing the book within a day.

The story is so heartbreaking and I felt so sad for all of the kids (not just Maya and Lochlan). To be (basically) abandoned by all of the adults in their life and learn at such an early age that "life isn't fair" is tough. Mix into it the fact that these are children taking care of children and just trying to survive/stay together makes this even tougher.

It is not often that I get emotional about a book but I will say that by the end, I was so sad (there may or may not have been some tears). I felt that if things had been different in their lives...If their parents been actual parents and Maya and Lochlan had been able to be kids, things would have been better and they would not have even had to think about the choices that were made. Of course, there would be no story then.