This was exactly what I wanted it to be. This was the first of Lia’s books that I’ve finished, but the 2nd I’ve started, ha!

I started Dear a Emmie Blue and got half way but stopped so my friend & biddy read partner could catch up (admittedly I jumped ahead... by a week).

So to give me my Lia Louis fix, I started this. I already knew that I loved her writing and I wasn’t disappointed.
The characters are written so well and 3 dimensional, the scene setting was great and the family dynamics were some of the strongest I’ve read. You really feel the frustration/desperation/lack of understanding/love/empathy/comfort (delete appropriate) with the different family members and it felt like a real, tangible family that you could relate to: messy and complex.

Lizzie’a friendship with P made me so happy. I love a well written friendship and I’m lucky enough to have some really close knit friends that I can be 100% myself around. I related to this friendship so much and massively enjoyed reading them together. They had each other’s backs and behaved in a realistic manner.

Overall I adored Louis’ writing style and this story is wonderful. It deals with mental health on a respectful but gentle way, and the ending was exactly what I wanted.

The only thing I can’t condone was the opinion that marmite was a good thing. WTF Lia?!