Scan barcode
sadiereadsagain's review against another edition
3.0
I picked this up a few years ago after reading Joolz' [b:Billie Morgan|1145380|Billie Morgan|Joolz Denby|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328705213l/1145380._SY75_.jpg|2920285], which I really loved. Like Billie Morgan, this book explores the more painful aspects of life. It has a darkness to it which is similar, and shares many themes about friendship, family and responsibility, but this is a very different book. To me, Billie Morgan is stronger, but that isn't to say this isn't a good book.
Set in a Cornish surfing town which relies heavily on tourism, this is the story of Astra - she has had to drop out of uni as a result of her mother's worsening MS, caring both for her and for her younger sister Gita. In her 20's and feeling a little unanchored, Astra is happy when her friend Connie arrives from Bradford (from where the family originates) to open a beach-side cafe. Astra takes on some waitressing alongside her caring duties, and is treading water with her boyfriend whilst living in denial about her crush on local surfing hero Luke. When Connie's sister Angel turns up for the summer, life is thrown upside down. Angel is beautiful, and people are drawn to and obsessed by her. But she is also something of a void - lacking empathy for those so enthralled by her and without a thought to how her actions are perceived. Like a blank screen, those under her spell project all their love and hopes on to her, with catastrophic results.
This book is a slow burn, with a lot of foreshadowing towards a sharp shock of an ending. But what Joolz does so well is build characters, particularly but not only her narrative main character. We get to know Astra better than anyone around her, and a big part of this is the very chatty, natural tone of voice she has. At times that veered a little too much to feeling a bit contrived for me, but most of the time it felt like she was really speaking just to me. And the other characters around her, in particular Cookie who I fell in love with, are really fleshed out too. It is this connection to them all which makes the conclusion such a shock (because it is not exactly a surprise), and makes the build up worth it.
Set in a Cornish surfing town which relies heavily on tourism, this is the story of Astra - she has had to drop out of uni as a result of her mother's worsening MS, caring both for her and for her younger sister Gita. In her 20's and feeling a little unanchored, Astra is happy when her friend Connie arrives from Bradford (from where the family originates) to open a beach-side cafe. Astra takes on some waitressing alongside her caring duties, and is treading water with her boyfriend whilst living in denial about her crush on local surfing hero Luke. When Connie's sister Angel turns up for the summer, life is thrown upside down. Angel is beautiful, and people are drawn to and obsessed by her. But she is also something of a void - lacking empathy for those so enthralled by her and without a thought to how her actions are perceived. Like a blank screen, those under her spell project all their love and hopes on to her, with catastrophic results.
This book is a slow burn, with a lot of foreshadowing towards a sharp shock of an ending. But what Joolz does so well is build characters, particularly but not only her narrative main character. We get to know Astra better than anyone around her, and a big part of this is the very chatty, natural tone of voice she has. At times that veered a little too much to feeling a bit contrived for me, but most of the time it felt like she was really speaking just to me. And the other characters around her, in particular Cookie who I fell in love with, are really fleshed out too. It is this connection to them all which makes the conclusion such a shock (because it is not exactly a surprise), and makes the build up worth it.
More...