Read me like a Book
Liz Kessler
Ash is in her final year of high school (college to you British people). She’s finding out what it means to have a boyfriend and be in love – not necessarily with the same person. Her parents are slipping apart, and Ash feels like she is being drawn apart in more ways than one.
I feel like it is possible that this novel had too many themes crammed into it, but instead I felt like they all balanced themselves out. It read exactly like the protagonist was thinking and feeling. Ash struck me as so confused, and yet so cute. And don’t be put off by the ‘teacher crush’ thing. It’s not a big deal, its just used as a prop for forwarding Ash’s character development.
Personally, I’ve never seen ‘love’ used so much in a novel where it didn’t actually mean loving someone. I suppose it’s a bit like the Australian ‘mate’? That’s the thing that ticked the box of not being in my country, and lead me to feel some annoyance and frustration at times.
Ooh yes. This is a British version of ‘Keeping you a Secret‘. In keeping with that, I’d be recommending it for teenage readers to early YA readers (if that is such a thing), because the writing is a little superficial, despite having quite a few swear words in it.
Other reviews have been mixed, but for me, I picked it up the moment it arrived on my doorstep, and then read it until I was done. I’m going to give it 4 stars for another worthy contribution to Queer literature.
