This book was not for me. I thought the characters were not developed well and the plot way too focused on the current climate of racism, including racism against whites as "white-privilege". While I certainly appreciate the author's "Korean-American" (his words) point of view (my family came to the US in the 50s), I felt he used this book as a platform for hot button issues and that's what drove the story. It didn't hit me initially, only as the story continued on. The writing was really not all that good either. I kept thinking that perhaps it was because the characters were in high school but I honestly don't think kids in HS actually talk that way either, at least my kids don't. So, this book ended up being not for me and quite a disappointment, unfortunately.