Whilst I adored Phyllida's first book Sunflowers in February, I did find The Colour of Shadows a lot harder to get into. I think it's not so much the writing (Phyllida's writing is fantastic) but I just found the character a bit unlikeable and difficult to engage with. I will admit that I was in a bit of a reading slump at the time of reading and so it did take a really good book to get me out of it, but unfortunately this one just wasn't as good as I was expecting.

I found the main character really immature and her attitude made me dislike the book. I also found that the second perspective in the book was irrelevant and found the whole romance bit more awkward then sweet.

This book was so moving and just like Phyllida's previous book - completely beautifully written. I adore her writing and the way her characters are so detailed and so well developed.

This book frustrated me a lot.

First off, Saffron. For a seventeen year old she was very naive and childlike, and it felt like reading a much younger character. Her actions didn't line up reasonably with the situation around her - she was dramatic and stubborn and over reacted, and I didn't find her a likeable of relatable character.

Also, her dad. So many false starts to finding out what happened in the past because this book used the common trope of misunderstanding, of not communicating to fuel the storyline and it was so irritating to read. How many times can you use the 'oh well he started to tell me the truth but my voicemail message reached its limit'??? Unimaginative and boring plot device.

Can we also go back to the first spark of this story? Saffron finds cards in the attic that she wrote to her mum when she was little, when she believed her mum was ill in hospital before she died. And now that she's found them, in a split second she believes her dad never took them to her mum, her dads a massive liar and her mums still alive. I mean... that's true, but also if her mum died in hospital he could have just kept them for sentimental value? Again, over dramatic, overreacting.

However, my biggest gripe with The Colour of Shadows was the homelessness storyline.

In one sense, I thought it was really great to bring attention to the issue of homelessness like this in a YA novel - to discuss the use of drugs and alcohol amongst the homeless community as a tool to getting by, the reaction of other people towards them, the loops they have to jump through to get help which becomes impossible for them, and the mental health effects. I also thought it was really important that it touches on grooming.

But, I didn't like the part Saffron played in it. For anyone to think it's okay - and not at all incredibly stupid to risk their lives - to voluntarily sleep on the street as if her home drama was anywhere near as drastic as some people's that forces them onto the street. As if it was game to her to see how long she could last, and then she wore it like a badge of honour almost - look what I was able to do. Look what I was forced to do, woe is me. I have a perfectly good bed at home with a family that obviously loves me and cares for me but I found one one thing I don't like and now I'm sleeping under a bridge. Like???

So unnecessary. So over the top. So stupid.

And it was truly insensitive and insulting to be amongst those people who had no actual choice. Not to mention the way she spoke to and about, and treated most of the other homeless characters, Maggie and Ronnie especially.

When I say Saffron is naive and incredulous, I don't at all mean this in a victim blaming way for the fact she nearly ended up a victim of grooming. I mean when she says 'children can't be homeless!' - ??? or how she doesn't understand that a fight with her dad is not at all worth sleeping under a bridge with complete strangers who could be dangerous, or that she's vulnerable to a whole host of dangers. Even when her bag and all her money gets stolen.

I did like the pacing, I liked how it was split into days and spread out over only a week, but unfortunately most of the content of this book fell flat for me.

3 out of 5 stars.

I really didn't get on with this book, but it gave me a lot to think about. The issues surrounding homelessness were present through so much in this book but there's also themes of privilege and assumption included that I really want to talk about.

So one of the first problems I found with this book was that neither of the characters were really very sympathetic. Saffron was very angry throughout the book and I understand that. It's obvious how much pain she was going through. But the fact is that an abrasive character like this is really hard to like. Tom was easier to sympathise with, but I hated him so much for just dismissing Saffron's pain as "drama" and leaving her on the street because he assumes that she'll just go home.

I got into the book a bit before the end and there were some really touching moments, especially between Melanie and Saffron.

It was a book that said a lot and I wish I could have liked it more.

A ok read but sadly nothing special.
Thank you to both NetGalley and Hot Key Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest unbiased review

When Saffron discovers a briefcase in the attic of her family home, she discovers that her father has lied to her. Ten years ago, he told her that her mother was dead, but she’s alive and out there somewhere and Saffron is determined to find her.

Saffron runs away from home, unwilling to be around her father or his new wife Melanie for a moment longer. But when her oldest friend Tom refuses to let her stay with him, telling her instead to just go home, Saffron ends up sleeping rough and discovering there’s a lot more to life than designer labels and having a walk-in wardrobe.

I wasn’t a fan of Phyllida Shrimpton’s first novel, Sunflowers in February, but I decided to give The Colour of Shadows a chance. There aren’t many young adult novels that feature the characters running away from home or sleeping on the streets, but it’s a scarily common problem – over 100,000 young people asked for help regarding homelessness last year, according to Centrepoint.

However, it feels like Phyllida Shrimpton knew that she wanted to talk about homelessness and abandonment and had to string together a very unstable plot to allow her to explore the issues. It just doesn’t hold up under questioning.

If I found a briefcase in the attic filled with cards to my supposedly dead mother, I would assume that my father had kept them for sentimental reasons. I wouldn’t assume that it meant that she was actually alive.

Then again, if I was Saffron’s dad I would have disposed of the briefcase when I moved into a larger home with my new wife, rather than keeping it and risking one of my children discovering it…

Another aspect that doesn’t compute is Saffron’s age. Throughout the first few chapters I believed Saffron was supposed to be 13 or 14, but the way she was stomping around the house and refusing to let anyone speak screamed pre-teen behaviour. Then it was revealed that Saffron is actually meant to be 17. I was baffled. Some of her childish, spoilt behaviour can be explained away by her upper middle class background, but it makes the narrative jarring. I kept thinking I was reading a middle-grade book rather than a YA with a protagonist in her late teens.

Shrimpton gets points for discussing homelessness so cleverly, tearing down preconceptions regarding homeless people that I’m sure a lot of readers will unconsciously believe. She also explores the difficulties of being a young carer, although I hope she goes into this topic in more detail in a future release, as I can only think of one other YA novel focused upon the subject (Tender by Eve Ainsworth).

But although The Colour of Shadows is filled with important topics, I just can’t rate this novel higher than two stars. The plot is just far too transparent, and I feel as though the story needed to be stronger to make this book a success.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for granting access to this, though I didn’t find it as gripping as I’d hoped I would.
Saffron is seventeen, a bit of a loner and used to living in her head. She has never really got over her mum leaving the family, and clearly resents the woman who’s taken her place.
We find Saffron in a huge argument with her father once she learns the story she’s been told over the years isn’t quite the truth. She runs away and spends a week living under a bridge with other homeless people.
Honestly, the main thread of the story was unrealistic. However misguided, I find it hard to believe that Saffron would have acted in this way and that her family would have acted as they did. Her situation only served to highlight how spoiled she was.
Saffron’s evident lack of awareness of her privileged position was highlighted by her relationship with Tom, who was a childhood friend who hangs around on the periphery of her experience then swoops in to save the day.
There were some moments that reminded me of how much I’d loved Sunflowers in February (where the focus is on colour or concepts) but a lot of it felt rather forced.

Thanks to Bonnier Zaffre and NetGalley for providing me with an Advance Review Copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book is about Saffron, a 17-year-old girl who discovers a big secret, the secret being that her ‘dead’ mother is not dead after all. The book is written from two different viewpoints, that of Saffron and her best friend Tom. Saffron is from a wealthy background and we can infer Tom is from a poorer background although this isn’t really explored.

From the outset I found it incredibly unrealistic that a father would lie to three of his children about their mother being dead. For what purpose? I guess it could, and maybe does happen but Saffron’s bratty and immature reaction to finding out the truth wasn’t very credible to me coming from a supposed 17-year-old. The behaviour and motivation of various characters was also suspect to me e.g. Tom being quite frankly rude and disengaged when Saffron tells him about her mother, Saffron’s brothers were also completely disinterested when they find out their mother is alive and their unconcerned reaction to leaving Saffron with a potential predator was just weird.

The ‘mystery’ is dragged out through a series of interminable answerphone messages from her dad and Saffron ignores pretty much all opportunities to find out more about what happened to her mother and where she might be. Is this really how people behave? I just wasn’t buying it. The characters were almost all unlikeable and Saffron in particular acted like a spoilt diva for most of the novel.

The novel tries to tackle some serious issues such as homelessness, broken families, drugs and alcohol but doesn’t manage it in a very sympathetic way, particularly the depiction of homeless people.

My main issue with the novel was the writing style. There was a constant barrage of analogies, similes and metaphors. Additionally, there were some quite frankly bizarre turns of phrase e.g.

“I saw her lean against a wall, then slide to the ground like a sack of the proverbial” - (A sack of the proverbial what?)

"I stirred my drink angrily through the pile of cream on my mug, watching it disappear until was confident I could take little sips without the same facial fiasco Tom had used."

"I could still remember how the walls of my room had closed around me as he sat on my bed and told me the evasive words I tried to hold on to and make sense of"

"A silence fell between us, like midnight snow heavy with the gathered pollution of a rotten thought"

"I silently and profusely thanked my own eyelids"

I just couldn’t get into this one. I disliked the characters; the main plotline was unbelievable and the writing style just jarred with me. Thanks for providing me the opportunity to review it but it wasn’t for me.

Meet Saffron (Saffy): spoilt, materialistic and self-centred. After uncovering a hidden secret about her mother, who disappeared 10 years ago, she packs her luxury items and runs away from the home she shares with her dad and “step bitch witch” Melanie. Realising she has nowhere to go, Saffy is forced to spend her nights with the town’s homeless community under a bridge. Can she survive without getting herself into further trouble?

The Colour of Shadows pleasantly surprised me the further I read. At first, I couldn’t take to Saffy as, despite being 17, she acted like a petulant child and it frustrated me. However I soon realised that this is a deliberate technique from the author in order to show the growth of Saffy throughout the book.

The story is also told through the eyes of Tom, Saffy’s friend, and I really loved him. His underprivileged upbringing has made him grounded, hard-working and extremely kind - everything that Saffy is not.

What I found most thought-provoking was the issue of homelessness itself. At one point Saffy finds out that the people under the bridge were once ‘real people’ - a soldier, a university student, a businessman - and a brief change in circumstances, beyond their control, caused them to lose everything. The message that homeless people are still people and have feelings resonate throughout.

This is a well-written book with powerful themes and messages throughout, aided by strong, likeable characters.