Babies Having Babies

"...she pulled open the freezer door and extracted a pint box of ice cream. She was in her socks, socks so thick they were like slippers, and a pair of black leggings under an oversize sweater. Beneath her feet, the polished floor boards were as slick as the sidewalk outside, and she liked the feel of that, skating indoors in her big socks.... She dug a finger into the ice cream and stuck it in her mouth."

The details in this passage could be describing a child- eating ice cream with your finger, playing slip-and-slide in your socks. At this and several other points in the story, Boyle references immaturity, irresponsibility, and a sense of entitlement to describe Jeremy and China, and I think it starts right here. The many "definitions" of love sprinkled throughout- kissing at every opportunity was love, not bringing a fishing pole on their fateful camping trip was love- are all naive oversimplifications of a complex process that often necessitates sacrifice, which these characters clearly know nothing about. These are two privileged teenagers who were so wrapped up in themselves that they easily justified committing a crime that no normal person in their position would even contemplate.


But....
Although Jeremy and China's selfishness and the horror of their crime are both evident, this is still, essentially, a love story, and lovers are generally sympathetic characters. Are we supposed to feel sympathy for Jeremy and China? Are we intended to champion their love, even while abhorring the moral depths to which it led them?