If you haven't started reading the book yet here are a couple of tips:
Don't expect magic, this is the most realistic book I have ever read.
Don't expect a murder-mystery. That was my mistake, and it wasn't until I finally gave up and realized that Barry had actually died of a natural cause that I started enjoying the book.
Keep a little piece of paper inside the book and a pencil to write all the names you encounter along the book.
Yes, Fats is the same person as Stu or Stuart.
And yes, Colin Wall is the same person as Cubby.
Don't expect the evolution of the novel to be like any other you've read before. It's not "introduction, main problem presented, climax, problem solved, happy ending". It's more of an "introduction" for the entire book because with each page you get to know each character even more and more.
I liked that it's an "adult novel" dealing with teenagers problems, a great way to target parents into realizing that yelling at their kid is not the best way to get to them.
Another thing I also enjoyed a lot was how highly self-conscious of their words and movement each character was. Personally I can relate to that because I feel that the basic principle behind the sentence "think before you talk" is foreseeing your listeners reaction, and being self-conscious of yourself and choosing your words carefully is very important. Based on that I enjoyed the scene where Colin, Tessa, Parmindr, and Kay are reunited discussing Bellchappel at the Collin's house.
Overall it's a very well written book. Nothing less to what we expect from J.K. rowling.
P.S. I don't know about you, but I shipped Gaia and Andrew.
