Diaz writes with a fierce honesty that can be overwhelming at times as her childhood and young adult life were difficult to the extreme. While this is a memoir it almost reads like a novel in part due to the detail with which she tells her story. I also found it very interesting that she wove bits of Puerto Rican history throughout her story giving the reader a sense of who the people of Puerto Rico are. At times tragic and heartbreaking it is also a story of survival and the power of friendship.