Trouble

When 15 year old Hannah Shepherd discovers she’s pregnant, she doesn’t know who to tell. She does know that she wants to keep it. She pretends she doesn’t know who the father is, and with her reputation, it’s not hard to convince people. After her ex-best-friend blabs to the whole school, Hannah receives an offer of help from an unexpected source. New boy Aaron will pretend to be the baby’s father.

This has got to be why marriage was invented, so that when you’re pregnant there’s someone to have sex with.

Non Pratt does an amazing job of presenting a character who isn’t particularly likable and making her more human at every turn. From the start, Hannah spends her weekends getting tarted up to get drunk, chat up boys in the park and have sex. Or that’s the picture that is painted. There’s no sudden reveal of a different life, but slowly things are put into place. It just highlights how easy we make presumptions about teenagers.

Hannah herself has a lot to answer for her reputation. It’s a mask she puts on at school, a place that is a minefield. The characters are all convincing, from the bitchiness and immaturity to the moments of kindness and comfort. They feel real. Hannah’s snarky but fragile narrative is full of humour and the sense of loneliness her situation lands her in.

It’s too much to be forgiven when all you want is to be blamed.

I have been pondering how subjects I wouldn’t usually be drawn to become more appealing when told through young adult eyes. I’m not fond of reading about pregnancy, as a rule, but the story of a teen pregnancy is a world of difference to an adult with their own independence, whether the baby was planned or not.

You shouldn’t turn up to a funeral crying – it’s like turning up to a date masturbating.

The narrative switches between Hannah and Aaron so we get to see both sides of the story, although he does have plenty of things going on unrelated to Hannah, but they explain why he has offered such a big thing. He does seem a bit too good to be true, yet you can’t help but like him. He does offer out of a sense of guilt yet is a good person. I loved that Aaron is a friend more than a love interest. Yes girls and boys can get along without there being sex, or romance, involved.

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Also reviewed @ prettybooks | Queen of Contemporary| Winged Reviews

Book Source: Purchased