Reviews

Careless by Kirsty Capes

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nour_rigo's review

dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Toxic relationships amid an adolescence in care.

I entered upon this read with trepidation, thinking I might have to leave it if it became to depressing and sad. But I found myself drawn into it more and more as Bess herself grew in my estimation, her friendship with Eshal a solid relationship I wanted to see through.

But it's also dark and yes, depressing in many ways. Bess is only 15 when she takes a pregnancy test. She's been 'seeing' 19-year-old Boy (whom she met when he crashed a stolen car) for a while, and she thinks she's in love. But he's not really there for her.

Bess is also in care, a long-term foster placement with a Mum she just can't please, where all the receipts for her clothes and haircuts are filed away, where no pictures of her appear with her parents and younger 'sister' Clarissa. Her social worker is likely to disappear to another department any moment. She has Eshal though, best friend and confidante.

Can and should she keep this baby? What about her dreams of film school? And while this is going on, she's dimly aware of Eshal's own problems with an arranged marriage.

Wow, some big issues here, with some very young girls. But boy, do we get a good story out of this. I hoped against hope Bess wouldn't become another statistic, and that she and Eshal would work together, you can see they both have a bright future ahead if they could just make decisions that were in their own best interests. But how capable are any of us at 15 of this?!

I loved how realistic this felt - some 'useless' characters, some overbearing and flawed, and two girls who work out they need each other to make it through.

I want another instalment of them both, I want to know about their next chapters, make sure they are okay. This ended with some sadness but hope for their futures. It was a hard place to be, Bess's head, with her history and her situation, as she thought through her options and what others wanted for her.

I'd like to think teenagers would get a lot out of reading this, it's been Women's Prize longlisted but I hope reaches a slightly younger audience than this - there's adolescents out there who could do with hearing Bess's voice.

islaofkiki's review

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emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

zoes2's review

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4.25

Held my breath for the whole book.

rosie_reads_x's review

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5.0

I absolutely adored this book! I could not put it down!

Careless is the story of 14 year old Bess as she grows up in foster care. Whilst struggling to find affection in her relationships at home, she finds herself falling for an older boy and winds up pregnant. The book follows her throughout, firstly as the relationship with ‘Boy’ develops, and then as she comes to terms with being pregnant and makes decisions about what to do about it.

I fell in love with Bess as a character and the relationship she had with her best friend Eshal. The bits with Boy were a more difficult read but I still couldn’t wait to find out what was going to happen.

All in all I really enjoyed this book.