While I can see where you're coming from, BorstalBoy, I mostly loved the book. There is a sudden lurch two thirds of the way through that doesn't work and the end is a little weak, but I was generally bursting into tears every four pages or so. The explanation of her death to her younger brother using Monopoly pieces made me weep and I get emotional even now when I explain it to people.
Nothing precious, plain to see, don't make a fuss over me. Not loud, not soft, but somewhere inbetween. Say sorry, just let it be the word you mean.