Della says: OMG!

by Keris Stainton

[Leah]

I first came across Keris Stainton one day when I was reading her blog although I'm entirely sure how I came across it. Back then, Della Says: OMG didn't appear to be ready for publication and it's only as I joined Twitter and friended Keris that I learnt about her debut novel. I thought it sounded like a fantastic read - even more so as I began reading more books tailored to the young adult market and I suddenly couldn't wait for Della Says: OMG to be released. I pre-ordered it, as always, and it finally came into stock a week or so ago and I eagerly awaited for it to tell me it had dispatched, it finally arrived today and I started it immediately.

In a nutshell, the quote on the front of the book - from YA royalty Meg Cabot - kind of sums up the book perfectly: "A fun, delicious treat you'll want to eat up in a single bite!" That's high praise for a book, so to say I was expecting an outstanding read is quite an understatement and I wasn't disappointed at all. In fact I loved it so much that I devoured al 279 pages in just over 2 hours without stopping once. That rarely happens but because it was a relatively shortish book I managed to not have to stop once which meant I could lose myself in Della's world until the very last page.

The plot of the book is fairly basic but it's still hugely enjoyable because, surely, every diary writers worst nightmare is to find out that it's lost/stolen and to have that kind of panic as you try to find it. It must then be worse still should someone start sending you pages of your diary including some of your most embarrassing secrets. That is the basis for Della Says: OMG and I thought it was an incredibly fun read. I've never kept a diary myself but I could absolutely see why it hurt Della so much to find her diary missing and have to put up with the fact that someone somewhere has stolen it and is now sending around pages of her diary.

Another huge important part of the book is Della's romance with the lovely Dan. I thought their relationship was so incredibly sweet and was part of the reason I found it so difficult to put the book down. It was portrayed quite realistically and I couldn't help grinning like a loon whenever Della and Dan had scenes together - which was a lot - so I was generally one big grinning loon throughout the entire book. There is a lot of kissing between Della and Dan and it's so lovely to see them fall in love with each other because they seemed like such a cute couple. I think every teen will be able to relate to Della and Dan's young love and will go going 'Ahhh' throughout the book.

I actually loved Della. She appears to have very low self-esteem particularly when it comes to Dan and I just wanted to tell her that she was pretty and she had absolutely nothing to worry about (bar her missing diary, of course). She was incredibly easy to like and is definitely a relateable character. I also plain old loved Dan, too. He seemed normal compared to most teen boys you see in young adult fiction and he sounded like the dreamiest boy you could ever meet. Everyone should have a Dan in their life! The book isn't only about Della and Dan though, we also have Maddy, Della's best friend as well as Della's parents and sister, Jaime. I really liked Maddy, and she even has her own subplot which was incredibly interesting. Della's parents aren't like most parents you find in YA books (ie. missing) and were incredibly supportive of Della and they seemed like the fun and cool parents most teenagers wish they had. I also must mention Bob, who works at the deli where Della works and that her parents own, I thought he was lovely and rather wise, too.

Overall Della Says: OMG is an outstanding debut novel. It's well-written, it's funny and it's so easy to get lost in that you lose track of time and find yourself finished the novel without even really realising it. Keris Stainton is definitely a fresh new voice in young adult fiction and I look forward to her next book. Della is definitely one of my favourite books so far this year and is definitely a book I'll be able to read again and again and again. If you haven't already picked up this fab book, go out and do it now, because it really is that good.