Paper Avalanche by Lisa Williamson - Review

Where did I get it? I think I said previously that I bought a few books from Round Table Books that were on the Carnegie longlist, and this was one of them. I haven't actually read any of Lisa's other books before, although I own The Art of Being Normal and it's even signed as I've met Lisa a couple of times. I've just never got around to reading it, but now I think I might do! I have read Floored, which Lisa was one of the contributing authors of. 

What's it about? Ro Snow is fourteen and lives with her mum, Bonnie. The two of them aren't close. Bonnie is a compulsive hoarder and the house is a mess. Ro can't have a bath because there's stuff in it, she can't remember the colour of the carpet in the hallway, and she lives in constant fear of Bonnie dying under a mountain of stuff. She also lives in fear of Social Services being told about the neglect she's suffering, so she very much keeps herself to herself. Bonnie is a singer but often overspends as part of her hoarding, and the two of them don't have a lot of spare money. 

Ro's dad is around, Ro sees him once a month. He lives with his wife Melanie and her daughter Izzy, who he regards as his own daughter. He's not very caring towards Ro and seems content with his perfect life and new family. Ro keeps her room locked, and perfectly clean, and doesn't have any friends.

Then some new people move in next door, and Ro gets friendly with new boy Noah. He's at boarding school, though, so she doesn't see a lot of him. She's just starting Year 10 and there's a new girl in her class, Tanvi. Well, she's not exactly new, she's been ill and is back at school after recovering from cancer. She and Ro get seated together and she is determined to crack Ro's high walls and be friends with her. Tanvi is adorable, I really liked her. She pushes Ro and I loved how their friendship grew. 

I loved Ro. I felt sorry for her, and I understood why she was like she was, but I also found her brave, and plucky, and in need of a hug. I thought both her parents were awful, but I also thought Bonnie was a good character. Hoarding compulsively is a serious mental illness and I thought that was well put across in the book. This is an excellent YA book. There are so many teenagers who fly under the radar when they really shouldn't, for whatever reason, and this book shone a spotlight upon a story that readers might identify with. 

What age range is it for? Ro is fourteen, so I'm going to say from there. It is in parts a difficult book to read. 

Are any main characters LGBTQ+? No 

Are any main characters people of colour? Tanvi is Hindu - this is a lovely part of the book and I really liked her and her family. 

Are any main characters disabled either mentally or physically? Bonnie obviously has mental health problems. It's written really well and I felt sorry for her while I also felt really sorry for Ro. I think Ro understands that her mother is ill even while she is angry and frustrated with her - a condition that I understand a lot from my own life. 

Is there any sex stuff? Not at all. 

Are drugs mentioned or used?  No 

Is there any talk of death? A little bit, it is a tiny bit graphic but it's really small. 

Are there swear words? No 

What criticisms do I have? I have really few, so really I'm just nitpicking, but at times I thought Ro read as older than fourteen going on fifteen. This could be partly because of everything she's been through, but I'm not sure. But then there's a bit where she's arguing with someone, and it was so perfectly like a fourteen year old that I thought it was amazing. 

I was also confused about where exactly it was set. It's set in a fictional place called Ostborough, and Ro goes to Birmingham and then to London, in a way that makes it seem like Birmingham is closer to her home. But I would have liked a little bit more clarity on that. 

I would have also liked a little bit more description about what the house looked like so that I could picture it better. It's supposed to look awful from the outside, but I didn't quite understand why. I would have liked a bit more there - was there stuff in the garden or was it just a general air of neglect?

But I am just being picky because in all I really enjoyed this book. 

Would I recommend the book? Yes absolutely. I told a friend of mine who is a teacher and who works with kids who are in need of extra support that she should read it immediately. 

Why did I choose to read it at this point in life? Because I'm determined to read all these Carnegie books as soon as I can! 

What do I think of the cover? It's cute, I like the blue and yellow. It fits with Lisa's other books (although the copy of the book I have is a different - hardback - one)

What other books is it like? Oooh gosh. It reminded me of something by Sarah Crossan, although it's in prose not poetry. 

How many stars? Five out of five. I loved it. I couldn't stop reading it. Stephanie from A Little But A Lot has started a new YA chat on Sunday evenings on Twitter which I'm always late for, but she recently asked about why we give five star ratings. It made me think, because sometimes, I'm not sure whether to give a four or a five. They're both ratings that mean I've really enjoyed the book, so what makes a book jump to five from four? Often, it's just about feelings. If a book has made me really feel something, then I'll give it a five. And this made me feel a lot of things. 

Where is the book going now? I'll definitely keep it! 

Floored: A Novel - Review

Where did I get it? Netgalley, so thank you very much to Pan Macmillan for allowing me it 

What's it about? There has been so much hype around this book which really made me want to read it! It is a collaborative novel written by seven of the best voices in UK Young Adult literature - Sara Barnard, Holly Bourne, Tanya Byrne, Non Pratt, Melinda Salisbury, Lisa Williamson, and Eleanor Wood. I think I've read books by all these authors except for Lisa Williamson, so I knew I had excellent writing in store. 

What happens is that six teenagers happen to meet one day in Manchester. They are all, for some reason or another, at UKB (basically the BBC). Two are there for an internship, one is there to deliver a parcel. They all get into a lift at the same time, and at the last second a postman does too, pushing a trolley. And then, between floors, he dies, and the teens have to work out what to do next. 

We then see the six throughout the next few years as they meet up on the same day each year, and as their lives progress. It is such an interesting concept for a book!

The six teens are as follows: Dawson, who used to be on TV but who isn't "cute" anymore and isn't sure if he'll work again, Kaitlyn, who was a fan of Dawson's and who has just been diagnosed with Stargardt disease which means she will lose her sight, Velvet, who lives in a hotel in Bridlington and is trying her best to fit in, Sasha, who is working for her overbearing dad and also trying her best, Hugo, who is rich, whose dad is an MP, and who is full of himself, and finally Joe, who dreams of more than working in the local biscuit factory. Each author wrote one of the teens each, and then the 7th one wrote the narrator bits at the end of each year, which told us loads more of the action.

I loved each of the characters, I thought they were very distinct from each other and well drawn. I liked that at least three of them came from working class families; I felt like class was a big theme within the book actually. I liked the stuff around disability, both with Kaitlyn and with someone else's family member, which I won't spoiler. I liked the stuff around sexuality, which I also won't spoiler but which I felt was dealt with in a really good way.

I don't have a clue which author wrote each part. I hope we do get to find out! I thought the person writing the narrator parts had the most difficult job, but they were well written parts which sat nicely alongside the other more personal parts. I am talking about writing a collaborative novel myself with a friend, so I really liked to see how Person 1's point of view segued into Person 2's, and so on, and how that was done without a lot of repetition.

I also liked how we first saw everyone at 15/16, on work experience, and then saw them get older, saw them grow into adults. I thought the character progression was shown really well.

What age range is it for? 15+ 

Are any main characters LGBTQ+? Yes, I am utterly not spoiling it though because I loved the way this unfolded. 

Are any main characters people of colour? Sasha is mixed race - I would have liked a bit more exposition here really, but I did like the descriptions of her relationship with her mother. 

Are any main characters disabled either mentally or physically? Yes, as I've described above 

Is there any sex stuff? Yes, a little. It is slightly graphic. 

Are drugs mentioned or used? I think so, I think there's some mention but not much 

Is there any talk of death? Yes. The death in the lift isn't very graphic but may be upsetting, and there is some other discussion. 

Are there swear words? Yeah. 

What criticisms do I have? Almost none. There were a couple of inconsistencies but honestly I'm putting them down to trying to co-ordinate seven people and their writing! (And they may be ironed out in the final version). Some reviews have said they thought the novel was too superficial. I don't agree. I think it is simple and simply told, but I don't think it's superficial. There was lots of stuff to dig into if you wanted. 

Would I recommend the book? Very much absolutely! It's a really fun book. 

Why did I choose to read it at this point in life? As I said I'd seen a lot of the hype and I wanted to see if it lived up to it. It does - it most definitely does! 

What other books is it like? I honestly don't know. It is simply told like a lot of Non Pratt's book, but it has shades of all the other writers too. It reminded me a bit of Alice Oseman, too. 

How many stars? Five out of five. Read it, read it now!