What starts out as a confusing "girl crush" becomes a discovery of Holland's true feelings and coping with the concept of attraction to a member of her own sex.

Other characters in the novel discover her crush and employ various means of physical and emotional abuse and violence, displaying strong homophobic behaviors.

Kirkus Reviews referred to the novel as "revealing" and noted that "gay or straight" readers will "identify with the excitement that accompanies that first love affair.

[1] Publishers Weekly wrote, "Peters [...] raises important points about the ramifications of coming out, but covers so much territory that her plotting suffers".

They concluded that "readers will appreciate Holland's new ability to live free of others' expectations [...] but the messages here seem to take precedence over plot".