Tough-O-Meter

We've got your back. With the Tough-O-Meter, you'll know whether to bring extra layers or Swiss army knives as you summit the literary mountain. (10 = Toughest)

(4) Base Camp

One Whole and Perfect Day has relatable characters and a plot that's easy to get swept up into. It also, however, has so many characters that you may sometimes feel like a kindergarten teacher taking kids on a field trip—it takes a lot of work to keep them all in line. Furthermore, because you're getting all of their perspectives on the book's events, you'll probably wonder at times if the characters even saw the same thing happen at all.

This said, it might help to draw a character web that shows who is related to whom, who's dating whom, and who's currently feuding with whom. This is also a book that really benefits from a second reading—knowing how the whole thing ends drastically alters your impressions of the characters.