I had to read this book over the summer for school and I immediately put it at the bottom of the list because I was pretty much dreading having to read it. After waiting until the last possible moment to start reading it yesterday, i found that i finished it in a few hours. it was amazing. i'm actually writing a paper on it right now. well, i just thought i'd throw that out there for all of you kids like me, who assumed this would be a terrible book, and decided to look for reviews instead. give it up and read the book.