The synopsis describes this as a "gut-punch" of a novel and I think that's better wording than whatever I was going to come up with. I do think the blurb was slightly misleading; this book focused a lot more on Kit's pre-boarding school days than I had anticipated, which was a little disappointing to me. Now, I don't know that I really want to spend more time reading about Kit's school experiences, since those were the most nauseating chapters, but I do think those sections could have been better developed.

I really enjoyed the writing style and perspective that Verble chose. Reading (or listening, in my case) to this story in the first-person perspective of a young kid provides special insight into how Kit sees the world, what she doesn't understand, and how hard it can be to communicate how you feel as a child.

While the ending and convergence of timelines felt a little rushed and I fear this book won't stand out among others that I read this year, I do think this was an interesting title worth taking a look at, if you feel you can stomach the content.