This is the first book that I rated five stars this year (and if the past is any indication, one of the only books I will give five stars this year). I saw it in the library and checked it out on a whim. I think I read about it one time and thought it sounded interesting. It did not disappoint.I personally think the story is better if you go into it not knowing or expecting anything, so I don’t want to write too much about it. I will say that the story starts out very straightforward, a little obvious even, but as it goes along it becomes more complex. It’s no Memento, but it has a few good twists. The medium is also unique. It’s like a picture book for teenagers: lots of photographs with a few IM conversations and mix CDs thrown in. If you buy the app, there are videos embedded in the book. If you’re reading the book, keep a computer/tablet handy because there are some youtube videos you will want to look up/songs you will want to find and listen to.I've also read the app of the book. There is an interactive element to the app that’s missing from the book, but I felt like the little extras didn’t augment my reading experience that much.I found the app a little hard to use. Sometimes I couldn’t tell if an interactive element was working or not. Sometimes the speed that the app forces you to read at is frustrating (the IM conversations are animated like an actual IM conversation). My favorite part was the mix CDs and being able to listen to those through the app.There’s a shuffle mode in the app, but rather than switching up the storyline each time (like I thought it did) it simply starts you off reading the book somewhere in the middle. You have to reset the shuffle mode in between reads or else it keeps sending you to the same part of the book. I’m not sure what the point of that is. Skip it your first time through the story. All in all I’d probably give the app itself three stars, but the book is still a five star story.
