When Suzanne walks into her new Saturday job, her heart sinks. The junior stylist in the salon is none other than Karenna Sheldon, the Karenna Sheldon who made Suzanne’s life miserable a few years back. Since then things have changed – the school has a new headteacher, who takes a much firmer line on bullying, for a start – but the second she saw Karenna, the confident 16 year old Suzanne became the nervous 12 year old she use to be. In addition to bullying, this book touches on domestic violence, binge drinking and even teenage pregnancy! That’s quite a lot of grief and drama to fit into only a few pages, and because of this most of these themes get only the briefest of mentions which is a bit odd for a book aimed at teenagers. The topics are quite serious, but the story stays light because of Suzanne’s humour and insight into her situation.
The story doesn’t really go anywhere, and it’s much more about looking back than looking forward, but I did warm to the characters, and found it a very quick, easy read. It did seem a bit more like an extended short story than an intentional novel though. I don't think it is a type of book that you could read again and again.
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