A review by lou_willingham
The Great Godden by Meg Rosoff

5.0

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in return for an honest review!

This book has the hazy golden shimmer of messy teen summers. It's a great read. The narration is quick, witty, and self-aware throughout, and you read through this whole Godden summer as if you're living it--or hearing about it on the phone from a very dear friend.

I loved this book. Rosoff's writing is always surprising and unconventional, and she has a track-record of shunning norms when it comes to gender and relationships. Most notably, in The Great Godden, is the gender of the main character. We're never given one. Nor a name. Some people are simply neither "he" nor "she", and that should be recognised in books. The best bit? It's never mentioned. It's not a big deal--and it's not a big deal that the love interest, Kit, flirts outrageously with people regardless of gender.

I loved it so much I pre-ordered the hard-back.

Highly recommend for anyone wanting an unapologetically honest and brutal commentary on adolescence in the hazy days of summertime!