- I enjoyed Nina Kenwood's first YA novel very much indeed.
- Her new novel is just as enjoyable. The narrator Brooke is similarly delightful and anxious, but a little more confident. She's highly organised and a real control freak. Kenwood's deliciously comic touch brings her intensely alive. As readers we can't help but love her. She's also highly intelligent and reflective.
The thing is, I am a person who prepares. The very essence of who I am is my preparedness, my to-do lists, my thorough research, my above-and-beyond reading, my colour-coded spreadsheets, my first-hand-in-the-air-I-know-the-answer energy.
- She's just moved into a share house in Melbourne as an 18 year old first year university student. She's studying economics and also doing a creative writing class. Harper, whose family own the house, and a tall boy Jesse are her flat mates. She knew Jesse, however, in high school and they had a nice girlfriend/boyfriend relationship when they were 14 until 'disaster' struck. She overheard him saying to a teasing friend ‘Do I like Brooke? No. No. Fuck, no’. She was insulted and it ruptured their relationship.- Brooke and Jesse both come from broken homes. They have that in common and it's a bond they can't escape.
- As they share a house together now their relationship starts to get more complicated. During a pub crawl one night with friends she and Jessie kiss with a passion that surprises them. They do it again a little later. Unfortunately intimate relationships are against the 'house rules' that Harper has set. So it's getting difficult.
- Kenwood brings a very sure touch to this novel. The world her characters live in is not a complicated one. Apart from the family issues there are no political or social dimensions adding any spice or tension to their lives. But that YA simplicity allows her to focus on the very personal issues of these young people confronting their own emotional development.
- A highly enjoyable read from a highly talented author.
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