When Alex meets Kate the attraction is instant.
Alex is funny, good-looking, and a little shy – everything that Kate wants in a boyfriend.
Alex can’t help falling for Kate, who is pretty, charming and maybe just a little naive…
But one of them is hiding a secret, and as their love blossoms, it threatens to ruin not just their relationship, but their lives.
My thoughts
This review is deliberately short because of two reasons. Firstly I'm not certain I have the words to do it justice and secondly I don't want to spoil it for others.
You can always rely on a Cat Clarke novel to rip you to shreds emotionally. This was no exception. It's gritty and hard hitting throughout. The story itself is one of those where you just know from the outset that it isn't going to end well for the characters involved. The situations they find themselves in are impossible and you just know that whatever happens their lives are going to be changed forever.
The thing I loved about this book more than anything else is the way it explored teenage sexuality without labels. All too often people want to put a label on a person to define the person they love and I think this book showed so brilliantly well that often sexuality has as much to do with making a connection with an individual be they male or female rather than a conscious choice to be attracted to someone of the same sex. YA needs more of this please.
I adore the characters in this book and I loved the relationship that developed and desperately wanted to root for it whilst knowing all along that speeding towards an impossible place. I also loved that it was A UKYA novel not set in England. I loved the setting of Edinburgh and it has left me wanting to go back to visit again.
All in all a perfect YA novel which blew me away from the start, had me gripped until the end and left me in emotional tatters.
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