Myla used to love spending long, hot days on the beach with her sister, Asha. Until the day Asha was taken from her and the sun went out. Forever.
That was two years ago. Myla hasn't been down to the beach - or even left the house - since. Crippling agoraphobia and panic attacks keep her locked inside a nightmare of the day she can never forget. Her main contact with the outside world is online - until she meets Jamie.
Jamie is new in town and also struggles with things most people find easy. Nobody gets why it's so hard for him to eat. But, like Myla, Jamie is trapped by his fears and feels anxious, awkward and alone.
Gradually the pair begin to trust each other. Are they willing to reveal their secrets - and risk discovering the truth? Or will they let their pasts consume them for good...
My thoughts
I liked several things about this book.
Firstly I enjoyed the mystery element. I found myself unable to put the book down because I wanted, no needed, to know what happened to the sister all those years before and that meant I just had to keep reading. I thought the way it turned out was both quite clever in that I didn't see it coming and it hung together well and made sense.
I enjoyed both the main characters. Myla is an interesting one. I was interested to see the impact the loss of her sister had had on her and the way in which this was dealt with across the course of the book in a sensitive way.
I loved Jamie as a character. I've not seen a YA book where the male character is affected by a eating disorder and it was interesting to see the toll it had on him pyschologically and the reasons why he had become the way he had. It was thoughtful and logical and I think it is really important for teens to see that it isn't just girls who can be affected by when people say cruel things linked to body image.
The story was gripping throughout. As a side note I got really geekily excited when I found out it was set on the North Norfolk coast.
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