an obvious first book (and probably her only) that does what it's supposed to do: hint at a dark secret that will only be revealed 2/3rds into the novel, then surprise the reader a few times (hopefully one of the surprises will still be novel to them - i figured out 3 of the 4 'shockers' before they were revealed), then reunite all the characters for a tearful goodbye.
yup, i cried.
but that doesn't mean the book was good. it could have been a short-story (and likely was) without all the soap opera details.