Reviewed by wcs53 on
It took me a little while to get into this story about two teenagers who have entered a fashion contest to try and win a scholarship to a prestigious private art school. For one of the teenagers, Charlie Dean, the contest is a godsend, as she lives and breathes fashion. For the other one, John Thomas Smith, it is a nightmare. He'd rather be working in metalwork, but he really wants to get into that school, so he enters anyway.
The book was written in the style of journal entries, written by the two teenagers as part of the contest. It started off quite innocuously, and seemed to be heading into the realm of the usual kind of YA book of this type. However, as the story progressed, more was revealed about the two main characters and what they had to overcome. One lived in the shadow of addiction, as she had lost her mother to an overdose, with her father trying to keep clean; the other was being raised by his grandparents, as his mom was on the road most of the time and his father was absent. As theirs tries unraveled, it became obvious as to why they both wanted to win the scholarship.
The ending wasn't as predictable as I thought it was going to be, which was a pleasant surprise. As well as the main characters, there were a lot of interesting, well-written, side-characters. On the whole, it was a very enjoyable read and I'd recommend it for anyone looking for a Canadian YA book with a difference.
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 5 November, 2018: Finished reading
- 5 November, 2018: Reviewed