Reviewed by shannonmiz on
This book hurt my soul. It is a quick read, but hot damn, it packs a punch. It only took me about 45 minutes to read the book (as it is written in verse), but I still managed to care quite deeply about the characters by the end.
Nicu and Jess are pretty much opposites in nearly every sense of the word. Nicu has come to England from Romania, and is the most precious pumpkin I have ever read about basically. He is just genuine and a good person. He also is wildly unpopular because sometimes people are real assholes. They tease him based on his culture, and it was both appalling and heartbreakingly realistic. Jess is... well, you won't start calling her "precious" anytime soon. She has a truly awful family life, with an abusive stepfather and a mother who lets him behave that way. So while I didn't always like Jess, I absolutely felt for her, and it was kind of easy to understand why she acted as she did.
There was definite character growth, even through such a short time. Jess and Nicu become friends, and as unlikely a pair as I thought they were in the beginning, they were really good for each other. Throughout the book, they have to make some really tough decisions and deal with a lot of hardships.
The end was not a particularly happy one, and fairly ambiguous. While I am usually not a fan of more open endings, I felt like in this case, it really fit. Would a happy ending for both young people have made sense in context? Not likely. So it worked, even if I didn't love what happened.
Bottom Line: Unquestionably beautiful writing and heart-wrenching circumstances make this quick but lovely book one not to miss.
*Copy provided by publisher for review
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 18 April, 2017: Finished reading
- 18 April, 2017: Reviewed