Quite possibly one of the most emotionally draining books I have read in a long time. I generally like to read more fluffy novels, I don't particularly like crying while spending some quality time with a book. I know that some people love to read tear-jerker novels, I am not one of them. That being said, I can appreciate a novel that makes me blubber like a 2 year old, as long as it teaches me something in the process.

I was complaining to Ashley about this book from the start. "I hate cheaters and cheating, this book sucks I don't like it" was about all I could say. She reminded me that its just a story and not to get all worked up about it. So I continued the book with an open mind and while I wouldn't say that I enjoyed it, I will say that I can appreciate its message.

The book was very well written. The story jumps around between four people and also jumps around with regards to time and events from the past and ones that are more recent. The font changes to help guide the reader into recognizing the change. Sometimes its easy to forget that a new chapter means a new time and a new person as the focus, but the font changes make the transitions seamless and quite effective.

I was part of a close knit group in college. There were eight of us and we were all coupled up. We did lots of couple activities and the girls spent a lot of time together, as did the boys. In this book there are 4 people at the center of the story with a similar experience to what I had, 2 couples that had met in college and are still all friends more or less 10 years later. When one of the group has a terrible accident on the way home from a party, they all get a reality check and find that their lives as they know them are as fleeting as a bird in hand.

Worth a read, but keep the tissue box nearby.