Sixteen-year-old Allison’s mom died when she was born, leaving her with a father who mentally and physically abused her. For years she tried to stay out of his way but when he got angry, there wasn’t anything she or his girlfriend Kelly-Anne could do to avoid his cruelty. After Kelly-Anne left them, things got so bad that Allison ran away.

Now homeless, Allison eventually wandered into a home where an elderly woman lived alone. Marla’s dementia caused her to mistake Allison for a long-lost friend named Toffee so, for lack of anywhere to go, Allison moved in with her. They soon struck up a friendship but as Marla’s dementia got worse, Allison’s peace of mind improved. As Marla helped her learn to find her voice, she helped Marla gain the strength she needed to face changes coming in her own life.

Allison’s moving story of love lost and found is told in poetic verse. Readers will find themselves rooting for both Allison and Marla. I’m glad Bloomsbury YA decided to release this book in the United States. It’s an important story of finding hope and joy in unusual ways.

Recommended for ages 14 and older.

I received a digital advance reading copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Bloomsbury YA and Netgalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Allison has never known her real mom but she feels like her mom did love her since she carried her for 9 months. Allison's father on the other hand physically and mentally abuses her and one day she runs away and meets Marla. Marla has dementia and finds Allison hiding in her shed and mistakes her for somebody named Toffee. As this story progresses Allison realizes that Marla needs her as much as she needs Marla. Written in verse this story will suck you in quickly and make you sad and happy all at the same time.

I didn't connect with this book at all. There wasn't really a plot to this book and the characters felt a bit one dimensional. I felt a bit bored reading this book. I also had a hard time which part of dialogue was said by which character most of the time and I didn't really understand the ending. It just seemed like a weird conclusion to the story. I don't get how the people around this woman didn't freak out at all when our main character showed up all of the sudden. So yeah, this was dissapointing.

Crossan, an award-winning Irish author, tells this moving story entirely in free verse. The book is marketed for young adults, but I don’t feel it should be separated from the adult book section.

Allison runs away from an abusive father, initially seeking out refuge with her father’s ex-fiancee Kelly-Anne, who had always been good to Allison, and who said she was leaving for Cornwall. When Allison gets to Cornwall, however, it turns out Kelly-Anne has left, and Allison is stranded with no money and no place to go. She finds shelter in the house of an old woman, Marla, who has dementia and thinks Allison is her childhood friend Toffee.

Allison ends up helping care for Marla, who has periods of mental clarity, and many more of confusion. But they grow close, with Allison keeping her presence a secret from others who visit Marla, until an accident forces Allison to go for help.

There are so many issues besides abuse that Crossan explores through her spare verse including the tendency of some people to fall through the cracks in society, mistreatment and neglect of the elderly, the disease of loneliness, and the restorative power of love and care.

Evaluation: It is evident why this author has won so many awards for her writing. Most impressively, she has made a potentially very depressing story into one of hope and healing.

Sarah Crossan has done it yet again. Her writing style is completely unique while the entire book is written in verse. This works phenomenally with the story as it really brings to life the emotions her characters are feeling. The writing is lyrical. The story follows 15 year old Allison who runs away from home and ends up living with an elderly woman with dementia who mistakes her for an old friend. I dare you not to cry while reading Crossan's latest novel. Highly recommended to readers who enjoy realistic fiction written in verse.

I very much enjoyed this book. I really liked the parts where Marla would forget that "Toffee" was in the house and she would try to kick her out of the house because it was really funny. It took a bit of time to get the characters down. The author made a stylistic choice to have all spoken words in italics and not in quotes, once I understood that it made the book easier to read and follow.

I did like that this book ended with a formation of a non-traditional family unit, and it shows that we can all find a family, even if it is not what we are expecting.

Allison is running from an abusive father and a home she wants to forget. In the search to start over she encounters Marla, a woman who forgets who she is, but wants to remember. Marla is positive (some days) that Allison is really Toffee, an old friend. And Allison soon discovers that maybe that’s who she wants to be. Exploring the themes of love, abuse, and finding oneself, Crossan weaves a beautiful web of story telling as Allison and Marlas lives intertwine to tell a powerful tale of self-discovery and the realization that maybe the one thing you are looking for can be found in the most unexpected of places.

Being Toffee
by Sarah Crossan
Pub Date: 14 Jul 2020
Read courtesy of NetGalley.com

I didn't know what to expect; I didn't expect a verse novel. So because of the online format in which I began to read it, I didn't catch on the the verse novel's format at first, which added to the disconnected, choppy storytelling I thought I was experiencing. Once I caught on, it became a really fast, emotional read. However, I still don't know who Marla's Toffee is.

Although this wasn't meant to be fantasy, I had to suspend disbelief that Allison could be a squatter in an occupied house without someone calling her out. Although Marla had dementia, others coming and going didn't. In spite of this, I liked Allison, and I liked who she was when she was with Marla. Allison's past didn't ruin her; it made her empathetic.

I agree with other reviewers that the verse novel format served the story well; it reflected both broken characters' trying to understand the world and each other.

.... Hang on... I'm going to read the story again; no, seriously. I can't decide where on the scale of "stars" I'd place this book. Hum the Jeopardy tune a few times... I'll BRB.

OK, I'm back. Thanks for waiting. You can stop humming now.

The writing is lyrical, and I still love Allison/Toffee and Marla. It's the other characters that get in the way. Not so much the other teens, but the adults. Though I guess they are meant to get in the way. Like some movies, I guess this is a story one could read over-and-over and still find something new to discover and discuss. I like that about it. But I know better who Toffee is now, and this just confuses me more. I might have to go for a third read... You don't have to wait around this time. Oh, yeh, I forgot to tell you... I gave it 4 ****

Books written in verse will never not make me cry.

Being Toffee is such a unique story, centering between a 15 year old running away from an abusive father who ends up living in secret in the home of a woman with dementia. The choice to write in verse felt perfect for this story because it gave Allison's shattered world a tattered, disjointed feel that made the character feel more real (and made me more emotional oh my god my poor heart).

This book is 400 pages and yet every single world felt like it was chosen with such a strong intent and purpose that it'd be a hard story not to love.

I had a hard time with this book because it had moments of brilliance in the writing, but at the same time I struggled with following everything. The format of the egalley may have also had something to do with this. Overall, a good book an I will continue to check out Sarah Crossan, it just fell a little short for me. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

This review will be biased, because I have loved everything that Sarah Crossan has written. Toffee is a character who is easy to fall in love with and sympathize with. The themes of coping with dementia, abusive relationships, and finding self worth are important for all readers. I will definitely use an excerpt of Crossan's work to inspire my students and recommend this book; I will look forward to purchasing a copy for my classroom library.

I picked this book from netgalley not really knowing much about it. The relationship between the two main characters was well written. It was a challenge sometimes determining who was talking and where the story was taking place. I was a much better reader because I had to pay attention more. I asked myself questions about early events in the book and by the end I was satisfied with the answers to my questions.