I picked this up as an ARC just recently and could not put it down for the life of me (I had some interesting avoiding walking in to poles moments, let alone on buses!). This is a story told in retrospective in a cafe to an author. The narrator was a street kid.
Spoilers behind the cut
But this is a book that doesn't take the cliches of homeless teenage YA on either side of the coin. It's not glamorous no, but the characters that make up the narrators world live. Especially Cinderella, who will stay with you long after you've finished reading. For it is women and girls who really feature in this novel - teachers, big sisters, mother figures. It contains one of the few instances of 'kill off the characters mother' that didn't actually thoroughly annoy me. Because the narrators mother has a very definite agency, voice and part to play in this story.
The character draws inspiration from books, from music and Larkin has created a genuinely unique voice for her. Which is the other thing about this book - yes, the subject matter is definitely bleak but it's incredibly funny, wry and wonderful with a lot of compassion and as the narrator says, a lot of good people as well. And that's why it's a rec because in the end, there's a going on. It doesn't mean everything is better or solved but things go on.
This is a book for the mid to upper end of the teenage readership. It's both incredibly easy to get absorbed in and yet not an easy read - but it would be great to start a discussion around the stereotypes of what 'homeless' is and means and the way in which men treat women - especially around discussions of rape, assault and blaming the victim. More than that this is a fantastic, thinky reading. Five stars.
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