Meg Wolitzer

I related deeply to Claire's character and loved the whole idea of "death girls"- even though the story didn't go more in depth when it came to the three of them. I expected the story to be about female friendship and what such friendship can mean to a supposed "death girl" who finds life unassuming and bleak- but rather it was more about parenthood and losing one's child, in more ways than one, and how parental distance follows us through our whole life. Claire also isn't a typical suicide obsessed character- she doesn't actually want to die, she is just acutely aware of darkness around her, and is even optimistic at times. "This wasn't a death wish, Claire knew. She still held on to the frayed ends of life, and always will."