This was not for me!! First off, the plot was so predictable. Second, the characters were lame and two-dimensional. Third, everything that happened seemed to be grit for the sake of grit. 

I wasn't surprised to find out that Janet Fitch had mentored the author... This book seemed like a ripoff of White Oleander in many ways. Except Fitch did it better. 

Furthermore, I think it's uncomfortable and in poor taste for a white author to write such an exaggeratedly evil & criminal character like Manny and make him a brown man. And to constantly describe her two primary characters as having "nut brown" or "pecan brown" skin.