Probably not the first books I ever read in my life, but it has to be by Cathy Hopkins. That entire series had me in the palm of its hand, and I had such a visceral reaction at age twelve or thirteen to that I remember squealing out loud. Me and my sister read them together and it was such a formative experience, us discussing all the drama.
I also vividly remember by Sally Jeffrie, mainly because I tried out a lot of the tutorials and practised the etiquette guides. Being a girl growing up really is its own thing. It’s genuinely a hard thing to do to find a crowd-pleaser, but if anyone asks for a good book to get out of a slump, or a pacy thriller, or a thought-provoking political read, or a beautiful romance: it’s always by Suzanne Collins.
How can a book be so many things! Unbeatable. It’s truly a perfect novel for me, as is the whole series. I actually read it for a course in English Literature, and I discovered during our seminar that there’s so many ways you can go into ; so many talking points, so many themes, at once a totally addictive page-turner, a stunning character study and an excellent critique of corruption and warfare.
A masterclass. I’ve been participating in the Trans Rights Readathon this year, which has opened me to such incredible literature. by Alok Vaid-Menon is an utterly fantastic introduction to gender nonconformity and just a very personal, tender and insightful journey to self-acceptance.
by Akwaeke Emezi was also fabulous. Emezi is an a.