Book review – You by Nuala Ni Chonchuir

I downloaded this book to my Kindle when I read a review by another book blogger, and I ended up reading the whole thing in just one day!

The novel is narrated in the second person by an unnamed 10-year old. She lives with her quirky little brother Liam, one-year-old baby and hard-drinking mum, and spends the odd day out with her dad who is remarried with a daughter and another on the way. They are quite a dysfunctional bunch of characters, and although I didn’t really like a few of them at first, the book was told in such a way that made me warm to them over time.

There is a lot of humour in the story and the way it is told, and the narrator has a great voice – you feel how she feels throughout the novel. Her relationship with those around her – particular Liam – is very sweet and realistic too.

About halfway through the book, I did wonder if anything much would happen – and just at that point, tragedy strikes. It was perfectly timed as I had just become comfortable with the book and its characters, so this threw me and is what made me carry on reading the novel right through to the end in one sitting.

Overall I really liked this book, and recommend it to anyone who enjoys novels told through the eyes of a child. Sometimes the second-person style doesn’t work for me, but with this book it really did and it didn’t jar with the flow of the story at all.

My rating: 9 out of 10

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