Polly Courtney

Wasn't sure I'd like this - as a Daily Mail (!) reader who felt 100% anger at the recent riots in London, doubted I could be made to care about a blade-toting 15 year old girl.
But I have to say I really got involved in Ms Courtney's novel about Alesha, child of an alcoholic mother who has somehow fallen through the system. Her only 'fam' is childhood friend JJ, but he is getting caught up into gang life and its consequences, and nothing will be the same:
"the worst thing is the idea that JJ's cheeky swagger is gone for good. It ain't the cuffs or the bars - it's the way it's changing him."
As Alesha experiences homelessness, drug dealing and more, she encounters Miss Merfield, a teacher from her old school, determined to show her a better life. But will she pursue it?
Perhaps Miss Merfield was a little saintly, her own life unbelievably and conveniently sad. And Alesha's mindset was irritating at times. But a really strong novel, keeps you involved to the end.… (mehr)

A reasonably enjoyable book if you try not to get carried away with the inaccuracies and impossibilities of the story. The book opens with an explosion at a night club and Rebecca not being able to remember who she is or why she’s there. It takes her a long time before she finds out her name’s Rebecca and the reader finds out with her. She makes a decision based on a bad feeling she has, not to let anyone know who she is and jumps on the first bus.

Without any idea where she’s actually going and using a name from the wallet she’s stolen, Rebecca becomes Jo and magically seeks employment and accommodation in the town she ends up in. Her job as a waitress soon ends and she messes up where she’s staying. She does this several times and conveniently for her and the plot, everyone forgives her, over and over.

By utilising modern technology, Jo finds out who she is from Facebook and starts to find out more about her old life. It couldn’t be further away from the life she has created with her new identity. Which person does she wish to be? The novel fluctuates from persona to persona and it actually becomes a little tedious in places. If the novel had been a little shorter and the writing had improved it would be a cracking story but there is too much convenience in the plot to make it a page turner. Jo conveniently gets a job working with children without any police checks and even more worryingly is whether she continues this job further into the novel.

The three stars are for the concept of the novel. It’s a great idea, just not compiled very well. Too much relies on convenience of the plot. It was obvious that Jo and Rebecca would have to be poles apart but the dilly dallying between the two different lives simply became tedious in the end.… (mehr)