spiderhands 's review for:

Things a Bright Girl Can Do by Sally Nicholls
5.0

I'm giving this five stars in part because I have been in a complete reading slump for the past three months and have picked up and put down so many books, even beloved old favourites - but THIS bad boy grabbed me and sucked me in right from the start!

The writing is really immersive, the characters are complex and well-realised, and the romance element is so incredibly believable - I can't believe how utterly invested I got in both Nell & May, and Evelyn & Teddy. Yes, I even got invested in some heterosexuals!!

I love as well that (mild spoilers?? kind of??) the conflict for the queer characters wasn't about being queer, when it so easily could have been in the era - but it was more about a difference in ideology and the way they saw the world, which was very refreshing.

What's more, I also learned a LOT. I thought I knew my WW1 stuff fairly well, but this taught me a great deal, particularly about what life was really like on the Homefront! What a great read. This was a treat from start to finish.