Name: Because of You
ISBN: 9780702259777

Pip Harry

'Books can save anyone. If they're the right ones.' Tiny is an eighteen-year-old girl living on the streets in Sydney, running from her small-town past. She finds short-term accommodation at Hope Lane - a shelter for the homeless - where she meets Nola, a high school student on volunteer placement. Both girls share their love of words through the Hope Lane writing group. Can they share their secrets, too?

Because of You

Jayarna La Bozzetta

It took me a few chapters to get into this, but after that I was pretty hooked. I enjoyed this book a lot, although I agree with other reviewers - it tries to do too much. There's an abundance of themes in here, and sometimes I feel like it just skims the surface of some of them, without doing them justice, because there's simply not enough time in here to cover them all. I also really disliked Nola in the beginning, but then she changes way too fast for my liking - she goes from spoilt to likeable in about one chapter. There's not a slow character growth here, even though the story pretends there is. I wish that was altered slightly. I would've enjoyed it a lot more if I watched her grow as a person a bit more slowly. 

The story is enjoyable, and it did leave me thinking about things, which is what a good book should do. This felt obviously Australian in some parts, which I always love. Some of the descriptions are really beautiful and I wish she included some more lovely prose as it added a lot to the story. The switching between POV's was a great choice to show the differences in lives and very enjoyable for me.

All in all, I'd say this is a pretty easy read with content that is a bit more original and thought provoking than the average contemporary YA.

Because of You

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