It was mildly entertaining, but at times boring to read about the melodrama of teen life. I didn't dislike it, but at the end I kind of wondered what I'd gotten out of it. And the stress of it causes them to react differently and end up lashing out and even hating each other for a time. This causes all kind of family dynamics problems and suddenly the teen lovers are step-siblings. Now it's their senior year and they discover that Leslie's mother and Peter's father have been having an affair and are getting married. They've known each other since they were kids, frequently seeing each other on summer break. Leslie and Peter have just recently become lovers. Klein totally gets teenagers, and that's what made her books so important to me at that age.

And I think that's pretty obvious to most readers. Even though probably both Leslie and Peter would see it that way, think they've worked things out and will have a great summer, I think they will spend the whole summer fighting and will not stay together into college. Klein's books is how she doesn't just go for the pat happy ending. And one thing I've always liked about Ms. So their constant volitility and hot and cold does ring true even if it is frustrating. They aren't good with feelings or relationships, either of them. At times with misunderstandings and misinterpretations that could be easily cleared up, I did get a tad exasperated, but again that's true to the characters: Leslie the drama queen, and Peter the shy, socially inept scientist. Her mother and his father aren't quite as well-rounded, but I feel that's accurate to who they are: self-centered and superficial. I loved Peter's uncle even though he isn't in the book much, and his mother and Leslie's father.

The main characters are so different from one book to the next, so real and 3-dimensional, and the peripheral characters are pretty fleshed-out too. One thing she's truly great at is characterization. This is not one of her deeper novels, which is actually why I started with it. This is the first Norma Klein book I reread since high school/college, and it holds up well.

Just Friends by Norma Klein