The Places I've Cried in Public (A BBC Radio 2 Book Club pick): 1

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This book really needs plugging into the teenage mental health system to teach young adults about choices and consequences, poisonous power play and abusive relationships.

Something that I feel I took away from this, is the power of friendship, Amelie had so many bad things happen and the friendships that came from this, was such light in a dark book.Reading it in my perspective, at first it seemed so shallow, so irrelevant and honestly I was a bit disappointed about the reason for of all Amelie's crying, that it was after all about a stupid boy. I assumed it would be more profound. But as I read further, it was actually everything I was expecting. It was in fact very relevant and meaningful and so necessary. I shouldn't have doubted Holly Bourne because she is amazingly adept at writing about teenage crisis, about what it feels to fall in love at that age. This week I have chosen to read The Places I’ve Cried in Public by Holly Bourne from the YA Book Prize Shortlist 2020. This is a story of Amelie and the boy she loved first (Alfie) and the boy she loved second (Reese). It is the story of Amelie’s journey through the locations that she’s cried to discover why loving Reese was so painful, confusing and frightening and not at all like loving Alfie, who was safe, comforting and gentle. lastly, i just need to mention the writing. if i'll ever write a book i want to be able to write like that, so effortlessly, seamlessly, intimately and beautifully. The scenes in the book with the therapist are moving and informative, as this is where the reader gets an insight about how trauma bonds work and why the love of those who abuse is so addictive. Through Amelie's journey, we discover that she isn't just emotionally abused, she is also physically abused but the author doesn't focus on the physical. Instead, she raises the signs of the emotional abuse as this is often harder to notice and can in some circumstances have an even worst effect.

Nothing that incriminating, of course. Nothing that couldn't be shushed away with a "you're too sensitive/needy/clingy/crazy". But damaging, nonetheless. You've probably guessed this already, but it's not a romance. This is a book about that insidious form of emotional abuse that grows, slowly, out of a relationship you thought was wonderful. Very few authors manage to portray this right, I think. Very few successfully show how someone can fall in love with a person who is manipulating and hurting them. Bourne does, though, and it makes for an emotional and skin-crawling read. A very well done and important book, please be warned that this book does contain Trigger Warning, and if you would like me to tell them to you my inbox is always open. i'm currently crying over 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘫𝘰𝘩𝘯, 𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦 and 𝘷𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦 because, oh, wow, never have songs ever fit a book better.

CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably)

Debido a lo angustioso de los temas que trata, no es un libro que se "disfrute", así que el hecho de que gusté o no se reduce a la capacidad del lector para sentir empatia. Sin esto, puede que más de uno se aburra, y lo siento. Con esto, cada página leída será como una puñalada, y también lo siento. It was a rollercoaster of emotions and it was extremely difficult in some places to read what Amelie had to go through. This book really does make you think about certain things when it comes to love. Amelie and Reese are in a relationship and it appears to be the "All Consuming" type of love. There's some very and not so subtle nods to what is happening and the more I read the more I just knew what was going to happen (well part of it) and my heart well and truly broke. Amelie tells the story about her relationship with her ex-boyfriend Reese who she met at school shortly after she and her parents moved to another part of England. The story is told from two different points in time, so she is basically telling the story of how she met Reese, fell in love and missed all the red flags until it was too late while reflecting on them, retracing and understanding what and why everything went wrong.