Reading this book was like watching the stars. Something shimmering, delicate and unfathomably deep.
It was a whirlwind of colour and emotion, so vivid you could feel the story unfurling out before you.
It was like watching a dance between the characters.
It was magical.
I know I sound a bit over dramatic, but I’m really struggling to find the words to describe just how brilliant this book is. Trust me when I say it was read feverishly, in one sitting, that brought me straight back to page one.
Katie is seventeen and living with a secret. In the grasp of her overbearing mother, who wants nothing more than for her daughter to have a single track mind on studying, personal statements and uni. Their life is ordered, structured, neat, with the past locked away in tight little boxes.
Well, at least, until Mary shows up. After years of mysterious absence, the arrival of Katie’s long lost grandmother sends her life into chaos. Despite suffering from Alzheimers, Mary is capable of anything and seems on a mission to remember. Her fire is contagious and soon Katie is forced to risk her heart. As the tragedy of the past unravels, Katie learns the one truth: there is none, just perspective. In her realisation, she dares to be true to herself, to love, to be unbecoming.
Katie never thought herself as brave, as a hero, until she had to be.
I had high expectations of this novel, something I tend to avoid. But, as the third book from Jenny Downham, who has already published the bestseller Before I Die (which won a tonne of recognition and awards, including being shortlisted for the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize *nice*) and You Against Me, which won the Waterstones Teen Fiction Prize, I couldn’t help but get my hopes us. And and a queue is already piling up!
What’s special about this book is that I think it expands so much beyond a single genre. A piece of YA fiction that can relate to all ages, following the three generations of women. It’s relatable to people in all walks of life and teaches the meaning of courage to all who read it.
In addition, Unbecoming breaks convention by including a lesbian protagonist without actually being an LGBT novel. It’s refreshing to see an increasing diversity of characters in YA fiction!
Now, with Katie locked in the closet and Mary losing her mind, this doesn’t exactly sound like the most cheerful of books. And I have to say before starting I was preparing for tears and tissues, but I couldn’t have been more wrong! This is not an issue book. It’s set in an optimistic tone, with the perfect happy ending (quite a rarity nowadays), which left me in an upbeat mood.
Plus, it focuses on family. The disfunctionality and drama that exists in almost every one I know. It avoids the teen cliché of the protagonist being obsessed with friendships and love interests. Jenny Downham provides a fresh voice in YA fiction, written flawlessly with a pinch of sparkle.
Unbecoming is about being brave enough to be yourself, in a world that will forever judge you. It’s about using perspective to understand others. It’s about forgiving and moving on from the past.
I couldn’t have asked for a better book this summer.
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Buy this book at the Guardian Bookshop
