ALA Booklist (Sun Dec 01 00:00:00 CST 2002)

Charismatic Lorna has always been the leader of a foursome of friends including her boyfriend, Finn; her best friend, Jackie; and Lucas. So when she falls into the ocean and is swept away by the sea, the trio of survivors are bereft; they have become as Jackie, our narrator, observes, "all different people." Lucas leaves Provincetown e story's well-realized setting thout even saying good-bye, while Jackie struggles to come to terms with the fact that she has always loved Finn, only to have him reject her when she kisses him. Then Lucas returns to admit that Lorna, before she died, told him she was pregnant with his baby, whereupon Jackie falls in love with a worldly 30-year-old writer as her own future as a photographer blossoms. Obviously, there is a whole lot going on in this busy novel, not all of it credible; indeed, one plot point that must remain confidential demands a willing suspension of disbelief. Nevertheless, the story is compelling and the characters nicely drawn. Wittlinger's many fans won't want to miss her latest.

Horn Book (Mon Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2016)

After Lorna is swept into the ocean off Cape Cod during a storm, her best friends--Jackie, boyfriend Finn, and Lucas--are shattered. Narrator Jackie's grief is initially well developed, as is the mystery surrounding the tragedy. However, after a mid-point twist, this uneven story devolves into soap-opera territory. Wittlinger's affectionate, vivid portrayal of the Provincetown community is the book's highlight.

Kirkus Reviews

Lorna led her friendship quartet, so her death leaves her friends both grief-stricken and lacking independent identities. Lorna's bossy personality united mousy Jackie, rich-boy Finn, and utterly forgettable Lucas in elementary school. Adolescent sexual tension changed the group dynamics as Lorna and Finn fell in love, and predictably Jackie yearned for Finn while Lucas was besotted with Lorna. These existing fault lines grow after typically sure-footed Lorna tumbles into rough seas and presumably drowns. Then Lucas mysteriously leaves town, and Jackie and Finn find themselves growing closer—though he rejects her awkward romantic advances. Embarrassed, Jackie finds solace in the inappropriate attentions of a 30-year-old visiting artist, Cooper, whom readers will instantly identify as a sexual predator. Meanwhile, Jackie makes a disturbing discovery, and Lucas returns to share a dark secret, helping readers realize much more quickly than the dense trio that all may not be as it seems. What should be an unexpected twist is neither stunning nor believable, though the depth of the emotional manipulation behind it is surprising. Adding to the novel's overall unpleasantness is the sexual-predator storyline, which resolves with a whimper rather than the bang it deserves. Little enjoyment stems from witnessing the manipulation and bad decisions of these wishy-washy characters. (Fiction. 14-18)