On Why Rocky Isn't a Bada**

I'm not exactly on the same page with John Green all the time but he did say one thing that I completely agree with, and I'm paraphrasing here, "You don't have to like my characters."
In the past, back when I dared to read reviews, some complained about Rocky. She's emotionally unstable. She doesn't know what she wants. She's this then she's that. She's annoying.
Yeah.
She's 17.
She's never traveled.
She doesn't hang out with the party crowd.
She's built this false exterior around herself to hide her pain and to protect herself from abuse.
She has serious, legitimate trust issues.
Take her away from her white trash, roaming-eyes pervert of a stepdad and throw her into a world with rich men who have potentially nefarious ulterior motives and yeah...that could make her a little bipolar in her actions. Mix together the danger, intensity,  and lies with some seriously emotionally damaged heartthrobs and the girl has some issues to work out while she's in the thick of it.
I believe in growth, that wisdom and strength come from passing through the fires and being refined. What teenage girl doesn't think she's all that but doesn't fall apart when cast out into the storm? We stumble and fall along the way before we learn to walk against the wind. We do stupid things and that is how we gain wisdom and humility.
Is Rocky a pain?
Absolutely.
But she and William and Peter are on a journey to become the people the family has needed all along.