Sarah Crossan

WINNER OF THE BOOKS ARE MY BAG YA AWARD 2019 The astonishing new novel from the incomparable, multi-award-winning and Laureate na nÓg Sarah Crossan. I am not who I say I am. Marla isn't who she thinks she is. I am a girl trying to forget. Marla is a woman trying to remember. Allison has run away from home and with nowhere to live finds herself hiding out in the shed of what she thinks is an abandoned house. But the house isn't empty. An elderly woman named Marla, with dementia, lives there – and she mistakes Allison for an old friend from her past called Toffee. Allison is used to hiding who she really is, and trying to be what other people want her to be. And so, Toffee is who she becomes. After all, it means she has a place to stay. There are worse places she could be. But as their bond grows, and Allison discovers how much Marla needs a real friend, she begins to ask herself –where is home? What is a family? And most importantly, who am I, really?

Toffee

Roman på vers. Runaway Allison strikes up a strange kind of relationship with Marla, a lonely and increasingly confused elderly woman. The novel explores abuse, identity, mental health and friendship

Ian Brakspear

Heather

Wow what a journey. So many feelings. Loved it so worth the read and will buy it for my bookshelf as will definitely want to read it all over again. Cracking book

Toffee is a Powerful novel told in verse and really makes you stop and think about how difficult life can be at times & this book does a great job at showing that through verse. It’s clear that Sarah Crossed is a talented writer.

Allison Daniels is looking and searching for a place to stay and she finds what she thinks is an vacant house with a shed while trying to find her former Stepmom; who is the only person that understands the abusive and adverse environment inflicted upon Allison. However the property is not as vacant as she thinks. Allison is a family violence survivor, her father a neglectful and abusive man since the passing of his wife moments after delivering Allison.

Marla is an elderly woman with dementia and owns the neglected property. Lonely and confused, she mistakes Allison for her childhood friend Toffee and despite Allison insisting otherwise, she understands the fragility of Marla's condition and allows her to believe she's the childhood companion Marla desperately needs. 

Throughout the book Allison and Marla become friends and although at times Marla is bewildered at the new living arrangements, they begin to care and cherish one another's company. Its such a unique situation to find yourself in but this story is beautifully told

Toffee is a Powerful novel told in verse and really makes you stop and think about how difficult life can be at times & this book does a great job at showing that through verse. It’s clear that Sarah Crossed is a talented writer.

Allison Daniels is looking and searching for a place to stay and she finds what she thinks is an vacant house with a shed while trying to find her former Stepmom; who is the only person that understands the abusive and adverse environment inflicted upon Allison. However the property is not as vacant as she thinks. Allison is a family violence survivor, her father a neglectful and abusive man since the passing of his wife moments after delivering Allison.

Marla is an elderly woman with dementia and owns the neglected property. Lonely and confused, she mistakes Allison for her childhood friend Toffee and despite Allison insisting otherwise, she understands the fragility of Marla's condition and allows her to believe she's the childhood companion Marla desperately needs. 

Throughout the book Allison and Marla become friends and although at times Marla is bewildered at the new living arrangements, they begin to care and cherish one another's company. Its such a unique situation to find yourself in but this story is beautifully told

Lydia Rose

The audio book version of this is brilliant. It’s the first time I’ve listened to an audio book so fast, I didn’t want to press pause and get on with every day life. 
So moving and heart warming and I just fell in love with Marla. 
Note: I did listen to it on 1.5x speed because I found the narrators reading a bit too slow for my liking.

I am not who I say I am, and Marla isn't who she thinks she is. I am a girl trying to forget. She is a woman trying to remember. Allison has run away from home and with nowhere to live finds herself hiding out in the shed of what she thinks is an abandoned house. But the house isn't empty. An elderly woman named Marla, with dementia, lives there – and she mistakes Allison for an old friend from her past named Toffee. Allison is used to hiding who she really is, and trying to be what other people want her to be. And so, Toffee is who she becomes. After all, it means she has a place to stay. There are worse places she could be. But as their bond grows, and Allison discovers how much Marla needs a real friend, she begins to ask herself - where is home? What is a family? And most importantly, who is she, really?

Being Toffee

Jelke Lenaerts

I received a galley of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 

This book has content warnings for domestic abuse and dementia.

I didn't connect with this book at all. There wasn't really a plot to this book and the characters felt a bit one dimensional. I felt a bit bored reading this book. I also had a hard time which part of dialogue was said by which character most of the time and I didn't really understand the ending. It just seemed like a weird conclusion to the story. I don't get how the people around this woman didn't freak out at all when our main character showed up all of the sudden. So yeah, this was dissapointing.

Áine Murphy

Ethel

Intense, quick and emotional, this book is everything

Key words: poetry, young adult, contemporary fiction, abuse, mental health, family, friendship

I am positively surprised by how much I loved this book. Like I knew I was going to like it, but I didn’t know I was going to love it that much. It is my first book written in verse and it was such a great experience, I’ll definitely do it again. 

This poetic format made it very easy to read the book. It felt like the story was flowing. At first, I didn’t really know how to read it, like how to control my desire to read all the sentences without taking a break and everything but once I got into it, it was hard to get out of the book.
The story in itself is also really lovely. Sarah Crossan talks about mental health and abuse and tells the story of a friendship between a teenager and an elderly woman. I found it really touching and emotional. Books about domestic abuse are always quite intense and hard as it always kind of bring a feeling of frustration and anger. The characters felt real and I could easily picture them. Also, I am quite satisfied by the ending. 

I recommend this book and I will definitely be reading more by this author in the future.

5/5.

Sage McParland

Ellen Strauch

Lindsy Rice

Meghna Sunny 

Megan O’Connod

'Utterly sublime' Cecelia Ahern'Impossible not to read it in a single gulp' The Times'Undoubtedly one of the best books of the year' Irish Times'Compelling and beautifully wrought' The Sunday Times'A book that changes its reader for the better' Guardian'One of our most original writers' John BoyneWhen Allison runs away from home she doesn't expect to be taken in by Marla, an elderly woman with dementia, who mistakes her for an old friend called Toffee. Allison is used to hiding who she really is, and trying to be what other people want her to be. And so, Toffee is who she becomes. But as her bond with Marla grows, Allison begins to ask herself -where is home? What is a family? And most importantly, who am I, really?

Toffee

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