Blood wounds

This was a tough read. I want to call it realistic and “gritty”. While I am sure it is gritty, I am not so sure it is realistic. It could happen. Willa's family situation is very, very different. She has a stepfather who cares very much for her, and two stepsisters. The stepsisters have a very wealthy mother, so Willa has watched her sisters be handed the best of the best their whole lives, while she makes do with the leftovers.
I am all for more fiction about poorer families, I am personally so sick of reading about super rich teens. In this economic climate, I doubt highly that most of my library kids can relate to expensive fashions and handbags that cost more than mortgage payments.
Willa tries to connect to the roots of her parents, but everything is complicated by the actions of her father.
This book is about finding where you belong, and about who belongs to you.
I had one issue with this story, and one warning.
Pfeffer's fans, who love her previous series, may not get this new direction and topic. Then again, they were gritty and realistic renderings of a dystopian tale, so perhaps they will love it.
The complaint: Something very fairy tale happens to Willa at the end of this book that I thought was out of place and just too easy an ending. As I read, I wanted to see Willa overcome all of this, I did, but what happens is far-fetched and rang as too convenient.