4/5: ‘The Last Days of Archie Maxwell’ is a Young Adult, Contemporary LGBT+ by Annabel Pitcher; Archie Maxwell - after discovering that his Father is Gay and with continuous Bullying at School - considers Suicide. Pitcher does not shirk using the language the characters use amongst themselves; therefore, homophobia and derogatory phrases are present – it is a dark, unsettling story and totally authentic. You feel for Archie: he's a decent, thoughtful young man caught up in a difficult situation. If the news about his father gets out, the bullying will get worse, but his mother has confided in Leon's mother - and Leon is the chief bully. It's going to happen, and Archie can only see one way of escaping. The trouble is that Tia has her own guilt and her own secrets - and she can see a way of escaping them too. How easy it is to think that Archie should just be honest and open about the situation: that most of the threat has disappeared once the news that Dad is living with Malcolm is common knowledge. He might have an unpleasant day or two, but then it'll be over. But that's easily said when you're not the person dreading another day at school and young men do find it more difficult to talk about their feelings than young women: Pitcher captures this perfectly and despite knowing what Archie should do, I was completely drawn into the downward spiral of his mental state. (I was relieved to find that Pitcher has supplied some resources for anyone who finds themselves in this spiral - you can find them at the back of the book.) One praise, aside from the plot is the book is Dyslexia friendly. So, what makes the book dyslexia friendly? Well, firstly Barrington Stoke has designed a special font where each character is distinct and pulls the reader on to read the next word. It's printed on a pale-yellow paper, which reduces the glare which can distract some readers and the paper is substantial enough to ensure that there's no bleed-through from the reverse of the page. The spacing between words and lines has been carefully judged to give the best reading experience and the text has not been justified as this can mean that readers get lost on the page. It's not only people with dyslexia who benefit from these ingenious but simple changes - most young readers will find the books easier to read and more enjoyable. The books also acknowledge that people with dyslexia - or reluctant readers - will have the same interest level as their peer group, but they might not have the same reading age. The Last Days of Archie Maxwell is very much a book for teens (and not suitable for younger people) but the phrasing and vocabulary have been made as user-friendly as possible. I absolutely adore this novel, in 139 pages, Pitcher ripped my heart out of my chest – Well-Crafted!