Warning: Spoilers May Follow. Read at your own discretion.

*****

I felt bad for Rachel when her dad wanted her to be strong and she was afraid of the dog and afraid to tell him because she didn't want to let him down. I do think it is wise to teach children how to problem solve, but maybe the dog wasn't the right problem to have her solve on her own.

I was glad to see Conor grow in his character. I can understand him being angry that his wife "gave up" and didn't fight to stay alive to be the wife and mother she could have been. I can even understand him wanting his daughter to have a strength of character to be able to survive in a rougher environment. I do think he took it to a bit of an extreme and was glad he was able to see that and rein it in.

I can also understand Virnie's feelings of "not being enough" based on her past. I was a bit angry at Miss Price for cutting Virnie off from her family and it did make me wonder if she had ulterior motives--though when we do finally meet her in person at the end of the book, she doesn't seem to.

There was still a bit too much of the "I love him/her but I shouldn't but I do" plot lines for my taste so I can't give it more than an average rating. ( )