A Sense of the Infinite

One would think that any book I read after finishing the Book Thief was going to suck. That is how good The Sense of Infinite is. It was the total opposite of suck. It's damn near perfect.
It's not the story, which is a perfectly adequate tale of two friends growing apart. The book copy makes it sound like the same old same old, and I honestly may have skipped it altogether had it not been for the 1. cover (I'm such a sucker for a gorgeous cover) and 2. other reviewers (who RAVED about it).
Here's the deal, I fell in love with Smith's voice and, by proxy, Annabeth. So I was SOLD in the first two chapters. Annabeth is just perfect. She is stoic and smart and strong but she also has major flaws. She is aware of some of these flaws, some are invented, and some she is in deep denial about. Mostly, I loved Annabeth's mom. Steven is also a fabulous character.
It's about a year in Annabeth's life where everything changes, but not as much as SHE changes on the inside. It was beautiful, painful, and breathtaking to watch. Good read. Highly recommended.

Extra points for lines I read aloud (to my kids) and SAT level vocab. Nice!