" I don't often read books in the Young Adult genre, though I suspect this one is better than most. Mara Valentine, the main character, is a 17-year-old high school senior. She's super-smart, highly organized, competitive and somehwat of an over-achiever. Mara is on track to enter Yale University in the fall and is neck-and-neck with her ex-boyfriend in the race to become the class valedictorian. Things seem to be going pretty much according to plan when Mara's 16-year-old niece, Vivienne Vail Valentine, or V for short, arrives unexpectedly. Mara's much older sister Aimee, a free spirit who never settles in any place for long, can't take her daughter with her when she moves to Costa Rica. V ends up staying with her grandparents and Mara at their home in western New York. V seems to be the polar opposite of Mara. Shortly after V starts attending the high school where Mara is a student, she acquires a reputation for being a slut and a stoner. Soon the two girls are squabbling, and Mara finds herself avoiding V as much as possible, both in school and at home. Toward the end of the school year, V discovers a hidden talent that boosts her esteem in the eyes of her classmates, and Mara realizes that sometimes it's okay to take time to smell the roses. "
— Patricia, 1/21/2014