Summer is quickly approaching (can anyone
believe it’s almost JUNE? Madness!) and I’m just as quickly getting stuck back
into my summer reads. I decided to start this month’s reading off with a YA
contemporary, Love and Other Man-Made
Disasters by Nicola Doherty.
Thanks very much to the team at Hachette Children’s Group for my copy of this
book!
I have to say that this one was a pretty short
read (short and sweet!) and this is a good thing: the book is absolutely
perfect for easing yourself back into reading if you’re in a slump and just
cheesy enough that you get pleasure out of doing so! I didn’t really go in with
any expectations, meaning that I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would.
The story follows Juno, an 18 year old in the middle of her A Level exams. She’s
a very serious character, very no-nonsense and straight talking and incredibly
level headed – a little bit like me, if I’m honest, although this is not
necessarily a good thing! Her and her family (or should I say, her new family:
her mother having just remarried a man with twin sons) embark on a little
midterm skiing getaway to Austria. Juno doesn’t want to go skiing, least of all
in the middle of the most important exam period of her life. However, she takes
herself out of her comfort zone, throws herself quite literally into skiing and
finds love on the way.
The book is very Chalet Girl-esque so if you’re
into that kind of thing (minus Ed Westwick) then you’ll probably love this
book! It was very quick flowing and intriguing and the character dynamics were pretty
interesting. I enjoyed the relationship between Juno and her mother and the
growing bond between her and her stepbrothers (although this could have been
explored a little more than it was.) I loved Boy and the other Chalet workers
and I love that Juno finally let go of her serious side and learnt to enjoy the
simple things in life. I’d say that I was perhaps a little old for this one, I’d
probably aim it more towards 16 year olds (although saying that, there was a
sex scene included amongst all of the snow!!) If you’re into Liz Rettig’s Kelly
Ann diaries or the Georgia Nicholson series then this one is probably right up
your street!
You can buy a copy of the book on amazon here from 2nd June!
3.5/5.
