I will confess straightaway that I disliked this book. Quite frankly, there were times when my eye rolls almost physically pained me.
First of all, there was the stereotypical teenage crush. Very much as per Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging, it is uncomfortable. The font in the book actually changes to suit the thoughts of Jody, for example 'What about me, Liam? Am I your type?' is written in massive great huge font taking up half an entire page. Oh, the struggle! How will Jody ever know?! If the writing has to rely on font to convey a character's emotion, something about the writing is not going particularly well.
The characterisation is very shallow. Long is not alone because so many books feature the same type of character with one thing incredibly 'interesting' and 'alternative' about them. I didn't empathise with Jody, especially for the first part of the book. A love of maths does not make you a loner. Nor does liking different films to everyone else.
To be fair, Hayley Long does try and include some interest in the way of tackling homophobia. It could hypothetically make us think about how gay people are treated in a very different way to straight people, and it's done in an easily accessible way. It's a book I would recommend for my 11-year-old sister to read if I wanted her to think a little more about the issues faced by gay people, for example. But for me, at 16, it didn't do very much for me. It both dragged on and didn't focus enough attention on the issues that matter, like borderline bullying and how to overcome this.
I read this book much too late in life. I'm past the stage where I can look past the shallowness and really enjoy it, or get in touch with the characters. So, for us older teens, I would give a firm no as to rereading it or recommending it to others. For the slightly younger, it's possibly more accessible, with an attempt at a profound message about how gay people are treated. If you like tween romcoms, give it a go, but otherwise stay clear.
• Buy this book at the Guardian Bookshop.
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