Compelling and unexpected

"I don't know exactly what I expected from this story, but whatever it was, I was surprised by this. Even at the end of each chapter, I had no idea what was going to come in the next. I thought that it was well written, the dialogue seemed mostly believable. The part that didn't quite hold up for me was Ella's actions through much of the story. Her actions are generally that of someone who is desperate, but all of her talk about why she's not happy doesn't seem to rise to the level that would lead to what happens, or even lead to how the story starts, with her walking down the street by herself in the middle of the night. I think that I would need to see more desperation, or even less emotion and more coldness, to make it more believable."