Book Review: Hurry Up And Wait

This was a book that I had read an excerpt of, read reviews of and drooled over while continuously hunting online for a cheaper price then what was on Amazon kindle. But no, visiting the page everyday to see if the price had gone down any was not the way to go, so I left it on my wish list for a few months and almost forgot about it. That was, until I went on a mad 'lets buy everything in sight that I've wanted for months spree' that I remembered it and bought it for (a slight ouch of) £3.29 kindle price.

Hurry Up And Wait is the second book Isabel Ashdown has published and I must say, after all the hype and my own anticipation I was a little let down. If it wasn't for some of the very adult themes, I would be recommending it for the younger section in the book shop. There are loads of 80's references that I'm certain are totally lost on me, but for some I'm sure it would be a lovely trip down memory lane. We start by meeting present day Sarah Ribbons, a bundle of nerves on her way to her school reunion. It seems clear that its more then young lost loves and old school friends that shes anxious about seeing. Something bad happened that last school year, that last summer. Now Sarah has to go back to face those ghosts she thought she could run away from. But what happened?

  We are set in 1985 following the life of Sarah Ribbons, a fifteen year old in the last year of school who is on the long and difficult path of friendships, boys, relationships and how to drink coffee because its cool and boys think its very mature. We meet her two best friends Kate and Tina, who one month can't get enough of her company and the next stand outside the bathroom stall saying dreadful things about Sarah while she hides behind the door. But if you were ever a teen girl you would regard this sort of behaviour as perfectly normal.

As Sarah celebrates her birthday with her elderly father and little dog, we are at the beginning of a coming of age journey. Older boys, tough homework, a summer job, the new and exotically named Dante, family troubles and more. The trials of becoming a more mature teen are hard enough to face on her own but then Sarahs dad is taken to hospital after falling ill and Sarah has to stay with her friend Kate for a few days. But when something truly awful happens Sarah knows things will never be the same again.

This was a very ordinary even paced teen story of everyday life and I think thats what makes the darker themes more shocking and unsettling. Personally I prefer books with a more face paced and fuller story line, so I am biased here. I think if I was to read it again I might appreciate it and grasp the underlining tones more,  getting something different from it.

What are you reading at the moment?