The Number One Rule for Girls

by Rachel McIntyre

[Leah]

Last year I read Me & Mr J by Rachel McIntyre, and it was probably one of my favourite reads of the year. It was the kind of book that you just love despite it's subject matter and I thought it was SUCH an important book. If you haven't read it, you must, and it immediately put Rachel McIntyre on my must-buy list forever.

The Number One Rule For Girls is vastly different to Me & Mr J, but it's just as important, because what happens in the book can very easily happen to anybody, and it's the little things that make you wonder what on Earth is going on, and that's definitely the case for Daisy and Toby. At first, I imagined Toby to be like Pretty Little Liars Toby, whom I LOVE by the way, but he just so wasn't. I felt so sad for Daisy, because having split up with Matt, after he decided to move to Spain, she needed some fun, a bit of light, something to help her get over him, and Toby seemed amazing at first, but there were tiny little instances that had me wondering if all was as it seems. Little throwaway comments, the kind that can do total damage to someone's self-esteem if they let it; like not liking Daisy's boots, or making her feel bad for enjoying eating, and I just couldn't help wondering if Toby was just being sincere, or if it was something more.

I loved Daisy. Her witty one-liners, her love of all things multi-coloured and crazy, the outfits she wore, her friendship with Ayesha and Beth, it was all amazing. The kind of voice that resonates with teens everywhere. I just wanted her to be happy, whatever that meant, whether it was with Toby or not. She'd had so many upheavals and changes, and she'd had to start college, without her friends, who had stayed on at their old school for Sixth Form, and I just wanted to give her a hug. But do you want to know what I loved most? Daisy's relationship with her folks. Most YA novels feature non-existent parents or at least one non-existent parents, but Daisy's parents were front and center in her life, she helped them with their wedding business, she could talk to them about anything, it was amazing.

This was such a good book. I think I preferred Me & Mr J more (and I'm still wanting a Mr J-narrated companion/sequel etc ahem) but this was a solid read. I finished it in a couple of sittings, wanting something completely different to my previous read (The Teacher by Katerina Diamond) and this did the trick nicely. It made me cringe, giggle, angry, but mostly I wanted to be friends with Daisy and her friends. I can't wait for Rachel's next book, she's become one of my favourite authors and it's nice to see UKYA author flourishing, we need more UKYA!