The way the writer described characters of color was incredibly odd.  I got the feeling that she - a White woman- has not interacted with many BIPOC.  She wrote the main character's best friend using harmful and stereotypical tropes of Asian people.  Making a person of color the main character's best friend does not instantly make your story diverse, especially when they are written as a caricature.  I think the author captures the experience and struggles of an emotionally abused child from a real place and gave the character an interesting backstory.