Jen(nifer) or "Neef" has had a really tough life with spells as an inpatient in a mental health unit. She has grown up in poverty with a drug addicted mother with a penchant for men who abuse her. Finally, Jen's mother meets an much older bloke who has a pub in a small town and they move there where Jen meets Danny, a mixed race boy who will change her life. Forward into the future and Jen has escaped to Brixton and is working in a cafe when Denz, Danny's father tracks her down looking for his son. Through flashbacks and events in the present the story of Neef and Danny is revealed. The story is very well written but the pace could be a little quicker in parts. It is an interesting, layered coming of age story with characters who are fleshed out so that you really can visualise them and care about them.

I liked this book. It's not my usual type of read though. I found the ending to be unsatisfactory for want of a better word - hence 3 stars. Potentially could have been a 4 star read.

Oh wow. This was a gem of a book. From the get go, I knew I’d love this. The setting is so close to where I now call home that I felt connected to the backdrop and the familiar accents and people. There’s a darkness running throughout this book, keeping you on edge and hoping and praying that the characters make the right choices. The story is something I’ve seen time and time again in people I used to know, it hits so close to home and is so real and raw.

Usher doesn’t shy away from the painful truths of poverty, racism and abuse. Despite it all, there’s so much hope and love. I absolutely adored Neef, or rather Jen’s, story. Her longing for love and acceptance was something I think everyone can relate to, and I’m so happy she got to feel that warmth eventually. Danny was so beautifully broken, in a way that’s often hard to convey in writing, but Usher manages it brilliantly. There’s an ache between these two characters, one that leaves the reader feel heartbroken for them both.

The entire book is brimming with emotion and humanity. I simply adored it, even though it was a tough read, it was done so well that I’ve come away feeling light. And I love the spotlight on the North. Simply mesmerising.

An excellent story of first love in a terrible upbringing. With clear parallels to Juno loves Legs, this is a more gritty account of abuse and drugs as two teenagers try to come to terms with loss and neglect in their childhood. I loved the characters and couldn't put this book down for wanting to find out what happens to them. Overall a sad but uplifting tale with just enough ambiguity at the end to keep you wondering...
#WildGround #NetGalley

4.5 ✨


It's one of those books, one that builds up nicely, to the point you're in too deep and you care a lot about what happened to these characters, and what will happen to them next.
The inevitable slow decline for Neef, that is horrible to read but you have to. You just have to know.
The ending left me with a tear or two in my eyes , and hope.
Incredibly good.