This debut novel by Liv Little is a queer black coming-of-age story set in London. Elsie, the main character, is figuring out life, love and all the rest of it.


As a London native, it’s special to see our identity accurately represented in literary media. And I’m not just talking about the lingo but the culture itself. The Black British culture.

Elsie is going THROUGH it goodness me.

At the beginning, Elsie seems equally emotionally immature and mature. She understands what she’s feeling and why and can identify what others may be feeling. What ie strange is her reluctance to act upon these observations. With Juliet, she knows she’s feeling unworthy at work but refuses to delve deeper with her. Refuses to talk about their past and what happened between them.

The inclusion of poetry throughout the novel was so well done. It gave us an insight into Elsie’s true thoughts and the things she wasn’t ready to verbalise to the people she loved.


(side note: Bea’s whole “I’m straight but I sleep with girls” is oh so familiar to this London scene and it felt so real. I do wish we got to delve a little deeper into Elsie’s reaction to that revelation. It’s hurtful to realise the person you give your body to doesn’t agree with or accept your identity.)


Ultimately, there was a little something missing from this book to draw me closer to the characters. I wanted to feel something a little deeper and I didn’t get it here.

Thank you to NetGalley and Zando Projects for this eARC.

3 (or maybe 3.5) OUT OF 5 STARS

Adulthood is a serious matter and also becoming adult is heavy struggle
Elsie have a lot of issues and acceptance struggle
Juliet is a precious and patient friend and sweet
No astycex Juliet’s boyfriend tries to interfere with hea
Lot of drug and sex
Not for all
3 stars thanks NetGalley for the Arc

Elsie hasn't had an easy life. She has a troubled relationship with her family, she hasn't spoken to her best friend in months, and now she's getting evicted from her flat. She smokes and sleeps around and apparently writes poetry (although we don't get to see very much of it at all). A bunch of stuff happens, and along the way she realises she might have feelings for someone other than the two women she's currently sleeping with casually.

Unfortunately, this book just didn't do it for me. I felt like the author was trying too hard, I didn't particularly like any of the characters, the flow of the book was off, there was too much slang, and I didn't find a lot of the conversations or character interactions/reactions to things particularly realistic or believable.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for my honest review. I'm sorry I didn't like this one as much as I had hoped to.

This book really surprised me. It’s definitely slower paced compared to the books I normally gravitate towards, but I really enjoyed it.

I thought the author wrote the characters so well. They all had such distinct personalities that I felt like I really knew them. The growth of the MC was written so well, and so realistically - which I loved.

The last quarter of the book took a turn that I wasn’t expecting but left me with teary eyes and a happy heart.

I will be keeping my eyes peeled for more from Liv Little for sure!

4.25 stars
I ran through this book, it was so captivating. A great debut by Liv Little. Little did a great job at making a protagonist that is selfish, flighty, and uncommunicative but that has us still rooting for her. I enjoyed many of the side characters. I liked Elsie’s dynamic with Bea, Maggie and Juliet even when she didn’t at times. The stages in the relationships she’s in with Bea and Juliet are realistic and necessary for Elsie’s self growth. I think people are gonna enjoy this messy 28 year old woman trying to get her shit together and figure out her feelings. I was pleasantly surprised by the casual addition of Juliet’s camming job. The ending had me at the edge of my seat. I was in my emotions. I couldn’t get through it fast enough.

This book was decent, wouldn’t say my favorite but I overall enjoyed the experience. The best part was the poetry that was displayed in the book

Thank you to Zando Projects and Net Galley for the opportunity to read this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

This is about Elsie. She is in London and is struggling. She is a poet and that doesn’t pay well so she works at a bar. She gets evicted from housing and moves in with her best friend Juliet. The same best friend who let her know she had feelings for her.

I loved the poetry in the book. I liked the characters backstory. I was confused why Elsie was against the best friend into girlfriend thing but I guess that’s what happens when you’re still finding yourself. Overall it was an interesting read but it did take me a couple of days to finish it. I didn’t really feel as connected to the story like I thought I would.

Elsie is struggling to adult in London. She’s a poet, but it’s hard to make that pay. She had a rough childhood, and is having a rough-ish adulthood. She’s behind on her rent and gets evicted, so she moves in with her childhood best friend, Juliet, who once admitted to being in love with her. Not sure why that was such a big deal given that Elsie is a lesbian herself, but apparently she stormed off and refused to talk to J again. So J is moving on with a douche of a man. Elsie then loses her job at a dive bar, and is struggling to find a new one. There’s lots of drugs and lots of casual sex, because Elsie just can’t seem to come to terms with the fact that she and her best friend are in love. Finally, she wins a poetry competition and gets a job, and admits she loves J, but J has her own problems. Douche man can’t handle her camming. There’s a nice dramatic car accident but everything works out ok cos it’s gotta, right?

The best thing about this book was the poetry, of which there was nowhere near enough. Honestly, I should have just read the poems and not bothered with the rest. The hardest thing about reading this book was that a couple of characters had non-stereotypical pronouns - all well and good except the author kept getting them mixed up, using both they and she in the same sentence about the same character, multiple times.

Some will appreciate this novel specifically for the POC and LGBTQI+ voices it brings, but unfortunately the writing is not brilliant.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for an honest review. I’m sorry I didn’t like it as I expected to.