Not for me

Easy to listen to and very insightful in places however seemed to me lacking in others. Overall I struggled to really get inside the head of the character.

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Absolutely beautiful

The story is heartbreaking but written in the most tender way..I didn’t think I'd be keen on the narrator but she couldn't be any better or have you care more for Bethany with her tone ,this audio is an absolutely perfect balence of story and voice xx

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Great Debut

A story that draws you in with very believable characters.
Narrator is excellent and her voice fits the various people well.
Loved the chapter titles - draws you into the story.

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Brilliant & heartbreaking in a good way

I laughed and cried and cried some more. Beautifully crafted story of the saddest thing I’ve ever experienced vicariously. How it managed to be uplifting despite the grim events is itself a marvel of storytelling and creative writing. Loved this novel.

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1 person found this helpful

Not the happiest story I have ever read, but well written and believable.

Bethany is in prison for having done a bad thing, and this book is both her exploration of what she did, which she can’t bring herself to name until the last chapter, and the story of her life which explains why she did it. It is a very cleverly constructed account of a Looked After Child’s life with large numbers of foster parents, and community support which means well, but ultimately lets her down time after time. The book ends on a happier note, and we have to hope that Bethany’s life will continue to improve. I can’t say I enjoyed this memoir of misery, but it is well written, and shows how having the best of intentions is not enough if you don’t have support to fulfill them.

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Wonderful

Unexpectedly, one of the most unique and beautifully touching stories I’ve heard. I finished this in one day, I couldn’t stop listening!

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2 people found this helpful

Wow, what a book

Such a well written book with characters who you grow to love. Heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. A story of never giving up.

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Wonderful That strange mix of raw and warm.

I devoured this book. I believe that very few people are ‘born evil’, that living forms us in good and sadly, bad ways too. This book takes this and runs with it, with a clever cast of believable and crucially, compassionate characters, often broken to a greater or lesser extent themselves, but oh so warm and giving in their own ways. I smiled and cried, but was left with hope. A brilliant read that will stay with me.

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Empathetic and moving

A slow start nearly had me abandon this novel, but wow, I'm glad I didn't.

From the off we know that Beth, the young protagonist, is in prison, but not why. However, rather than focus on the 'bad thing' that got Beth incarcerated, Claire Fisher shows how the cards are stacked against those with a background such as hers. We start with Beth's childhood in care, learn her mother had mental health difficulties, and so it's explained how she becomes a young person with a tendency to alienate others by acting out, and much, much more. Working with a counsellor, Beth explores the 'good things' that have also made up her life, and overall picture painted is very poignant and believable - all the more so as I lived for many years in the stretch of South London (Streatham, Brixton, Stockwell) where the novel is set and it was so vivid that at times I felt I was stomping round shrieking and behaving badly with Beth and her friends.

A very impressive debut written with heart and intelligence, I look forward to more from this author.

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3 people found this helpful

A Beautiful Book

This book should be required reading to remind those who judge others on sight and find them wanting that we can only do our best with the resources we have available to us at that time. Sometimes life is really hard.

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2 people found this helpful