I think I liked this book.

I say “I think” because I didn’t really have that AH-HAH! moment at the end, or put down the book and go…woah. What bothered me the most was the *spoiler alert* slightly unsatisfying ending. The plot had all the signs that something terrible was going to happen, especially to our narrator, but then it never quite got there. Which may be the whole point, come to think of it. You can never second guess life – or anyone else’s – as the only part of it you really know is what you find out in a conversation. Nine times out often things don’t turn out half as bad as you think it will. But then again, sometimes they do. Sometimes you just never find out.

I loved how real the characters were. In my student days*, I definitely knew one or two Bobbi’s, especially being on an arts-based course! Nothing about them was too OTT. They swear, but not gratuitously, they act and respond as if they were, well, normal people**.

But the realness of this book was what made it enjoyable. It was normal but not boring. It confronted all the shit life can throw at people: mental illness, ED’s affairs, money problems, family problems. But it wasn’t #woke about it. This book made a point about things without making a point about it.

Which, come to think of it, may be the whole point.

*because clearly at 25 my student days are so drastically far behind me I can start softly reminiscing about “the good old days” when really it was only 4 years ago…

**which is also a very good read, just haven’t got round to writing about that one just yet!