I bought this book and its predecessor, Secret scribbled notebooks, purely on the strength of their titles. I couldn't wait to read them. The funny thing is, I should really like them, and there are definitely aspects I do like. I love the sense of mystery and adventure attached to reading, and by extrapolation, to life itself. But for some reason I cannot seem to relate to the narrator of either novel properly. Perhaps its simply that they both so completely "out-literary" me and I feel inadequate? I don't know. But somehow the literary approach to life and to writing that they adopt seems both pretentious and callous - insensitive and completely self-absorbed. I wonder what I'm saying about myself in my reaction to these novels????

Strangely, considering that I find the narration callous, I also fail to empathise with Sophie's earthiness - the novel is almost disturbingly sensual, and for a reader, Sophie is very well acquainted with the physical aspects of being. She attaches herself to people and to places in a way that annoys me - I think my own need for boundaries is so strong that her lack of boundaries threatens me.

Whatever the problem, I did not make a friend of this book. However, I'm still glad I read it. It pushed my mind in a different direction, and it's certainly refreshing to read a young adult novel that is not at all like what I usually read. ( )

Sophie is a 21-year-old single mother and this beautifully written novel explores her relationships in all their surprising and sensuous complexities. A companion to the award-winning Secret Scribbled Notebooks. ( )