I feel like I’ve been waiting to read a story like this one for a while. A YA novel that is purely focused on the importance of platonic female friendships. I was already majorly excited before I even turned to the first page.

This story follows protagonist Caddy as she approaches the age of sixteen. At the start of the book she talks about how she feels to be reaching this age without having experienced any Significant Life Events. (Something I remember thinking about a lot at that age, so I was relating to Caddy merely six pages in!) So she wants to do something exciting, she wants some sort of turning point to happen in her life. Little does she know she’s about to get just that, only not in the way she ever expected.

She and her best friend Rosie go to separate schools. Rosie is in a mixed high school; Caddy attends a private all-girls school. Despite this, they’ve managed to remain the very best of friends throughout the years. Then Suzanne arrives as a new girl at Rosie’s school and the friendship dynamics soon begin to change. Caddy fears that her and Rosie’s friendship may begin to drift apart as Rosie spends more and more time with Suzanne. But as the story progresses, Caddy discovers more about Suzanne’s past, and the pair begin to bond.

The characters in this book are so beautifully written and utterly believable. I adored the contrast between Caddy and Suzanne, both having completely different upbringings and home lives. The dialogue between the girls was great; funny at times, but heartfelt when it needed to be. I highly enjoyed the night-time conversations between the two of them.

The plot was perfectly paced and never rushed over any details. I enjoyed slowly discovering more about Suzanne’s past as the story progressed and seeing how it affected her in different ways. Whilst this particular story is fictional, there are all too many teenagers that have suffered the same situations as Suzanne, and this book touched upon them sensitively but without sugar-coating anything. That is one of the reasons why this is such an important YA story.

As much as I wanted things to work out happily, I knew that trouble was brewing. Suzanne is dealing with a lot of problems that Caddy doesn’t fully understand, and whilst she tries to help Suzanne through it to the best of her ability, sometimes she’s not aware of what is best for her friend. Seeing Caddy’s willingness to defend and protect Suzanne was touching and demonstrated just how important friendships can be. This is one of those rare novels that shows how romantic relationships during teen years are fleeting, but friends are there to see you through not just the fun times, but the painfully hard times as well. These are characters that stay with you long after putting this book down.