Description
A very funny and fraught 'enemies-to-will-they-won't-they' romance between family friends Jamila and Billy.
Jamila Dakhoul wants to escape her life.
Forget everything.
Forget that her only friends are strangers on the internet.
Forget that she's stuck in a caravan after a fire destroyed her family's house.
Forget that Year 12 is a brutal hellhole where bullying is an Olympic sport.
Forget Billy Radcliffe once and for all.
But as Jamila tries to untangle the messy threads of her life on a weekend away with her family, it becomes clear that she can't outrun her past, no matter how hard she tries ..
A coming-of-age story about falling apart, starting over, and the people and places you can't live without from the award-winning author of Remind Me How This Ends, Can't Say it Went to Plan and The Intern.
Review
Set in a short period starting on a Thursday and ending on the next Tuesday, we have an explosive and touching story about growing up and finding your true identity.
The story mainly follows Jamila, whose podcast has thousands of listeners, but her real life is pretty lonely. Struggling since fire destroyed the family home and farm, she lives with her family in a caravan in the backyard of her once-best friend Billy’s house. Her other friend Daph has gone off to uni and has been pretty much ghosting her ever since.
Everything shifts when the three of them find themselves spending the weekend at the Hamill Bay holiday park, the place where they all shared so many memories. Jamila’s dreams are further shattered when she discovers that this will be their last time here together, as the park is soon to be bulldozed.
But while Jamila copes with online bullying, she is determined not to have Billy suffer the same fate after a woeful appearance on a television singing show audition. As they start to reconnect, will she find out the truth of why Billy stopped talking to her in the first place? And could their relationship ever go to the next level after a couple of somwhat steamy situations?
I loved this book, it is another touching and heartfelt story from the wonderful Gabrielle Tozer. At it’s core it is all about having the strength to be your own person and standing up to the wrongs in the world, but it is also so much more. It has a strong Lebanese female character, a simmering love story, a ‘help your mates at all costs’ theme, and family and holiday traditions that are all so truly Australian. It cuts to the bone of high school bullying, particularly the online version, and highlights the need to have friends in your corner in tough times. A story for all teens aged 13 and above.
