"I don’t know when a hobby becomes an obsession. I reckon when it feels so normal it’s like breathing. That’s what my hobby is, something like breathing.”

Grrrrrrr, I so wanted to give this book five stars. I just loved everything about it. Almost. Coming of age story set in the 1950-60s mostly on an island off the coast of Scotland. Two teenage girls, one, Lorrie, recently moved from the mainland with her family to live with her aging grandfather who runs a distillery. The other, Sylvie, apparently has a special gift but she’s a loner and an oddball who has trouble making friends with an over-protective almost to the point of abusive, mother. Sharp, crisp writing filled with humor and deft touches by this debut novelist that foretells a great future as a writer. Such as:

"A woman who makes holding a grudge an art form.”

“Dobby showed us to a car only an optimist wouldn’t call a wreck and wedged a screwdriver into the door.”

“If the words on headstones were the phrases people spoke most in their lives I'm sorry about the mess would be carved on hers. I'm sorry I’m here would be on Sylvie’s. I wasn’t sure what mine would be yet.”

The story is told in alternating chapters through Sylvie’s diary and Lorries’s written assessment of people based on the same sort of rating scale used for her grandfather’s distillery for the whiskey that’s produced. Nose: Palate: Finish: Overall.

All in all, a wonderful debut. I loved it. I would’ve easily given it five stars but the ending seemed rushed and although it was believable considering everything that had happened throughout the narrative something about it just didn’t seem right and, dare I say, spoiled it for me. Darn. So close. Still highly recommended and I can’t wait for her next book. ( )