This book completely eviscerated me. 

 

I am winded. 

 

My soul is on fire. 

 

If I could give it 10,000 stars out of five, I would. 

 

Set in the early 1990s in the Irish village of Crossmore, Sunburn follows the coming-of-age journey of Lucy. Born to a devoutly Catholic family with a life-path clearly mapped out for her by her traditional mother and Granny, Lucy struggles to reconcile her growing feelings for her friend Susannah and what that might mean for her life. 

 

Never before have I read such a powerful and visceral depiction of young, queer love and the journey of identity and self-discovery. 

 

I saw myself in these pages, I was transported back to 2011 when I fell in love for the first time at 17 years old with a girl who would break my heart so badly, it took three years to heal. 

 

I felt every moment of Lucy’s experience as though it were my own. 

 

To write a novel this incredible at such a young age is a remarkable achievement by author Chloe Michelle Howarth. Sunburn read like the works of a veteran up there with the heavyweights like Margaret Atwood, Lauren Groff and Donna Tartt. 

 

Whether you identify as queer or not, Sunburn is an important read for all those who have experienced the yearning of a first love, and the pain of first heartbreak.