"I am Princess X" by Cherie Priest, illustrated by Kali Ciesemier

There's a lot to like in this unsual book, and a couple of things I didn't care for.  Here's the rundown: The cover and opening of the tale made me think "middle school" but the book takes a turn or three that left me thinking high school readers would enjoy it as well.  At first, I was thinking another "The Thing About Jellyfish" with a young best friend/classmate dying, but then the book went in a very different direction than expected, gets a bit darker, and focuses on a group of characters mostly in their late teens.  I liked that the plot was "unexpected" and the inclusion of graphic novel style art.  I liked the integration of technology as part of a mystery/adventure (at times it was like a PG version of "Mr. Robot", the USA show).  I liked that the characters were a reflection of "today" in their diversity and that the diversity was just a natural part of the story, without being "A POINT".  The book moved well and is well-written without being particularly lyric and I loved, loved, loved that this is a stand-alone and not part of a series.  Dialog felt real and descriptions of settings were strong.  Character descriptions, however, were ... ?  This is where my "not so much" list comes in.  The big issue was that I liked May's tenacity and spirit, and we are given a good Linkedin version of her life, but I still didn't feel like I knew her.  Is she a good student or bad?  A shy girl or a party animal?  A jock, a geek?  Is she attracted to the mysterious computer guy she comes across?  I read the entire thing and I can't honestly answer any of these questions.  While her actions are clear, her inner life is sometimes murky.  In some ways, the other characters suffer from this as well.  Their physicality and behaviors are outlined, but what makes them tick is missing.  My other big beef was the various turns in the book require increasing levels of "willing suspension of disbelief".  At first, it's a little, then more, then an almost ludicrous level of "this would never happen".  I started doing with this book what I did with "Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick".  I just let myself ride the wave of fun and crazy and didn't think real hard about the plausibility issues.  Quite frankly, Veronica Mars, a favorite detective show, also stretched the boundaries a good bit, but if you can like the characters, you can enjoy unpacking the clues.  A good, quick ride which will appeal to far more readers than you might expect.