A huge thanks to NetGalley for providing me with this ARC!

I’m an absolute sucker for a provocative title, and this book hooked me instantly. Equal parts nostalgic, hilarious, and thought-provoking, it delivers a relatable flashback to the teenage years of so many northern women. The author masterfully captures the chaos and charm of growing up, weaving a story that feels both deeply personal and universally recognizable.

I particularly loved the stream-of-consciousness narrative style—it brought an unpredictable energy to the story and kept the pacing so fast and engaging that it was nearly impossible to put down. With its sharp humour and raw honesty, this book is a vibrant celebration of youth, identity, and everything in between.

Raced along through this one, and now keen to explore Unsworth's other books. Loved the switching narratives, handled brilliantly - the first person/third person was a great signal for this. A great book about siblings, nostaglia and women.

A poignant, sad, enraging and funny look at relationships with friends, sisters, sex and bodies from teen years to middle age. I enjoyed following Sarah and Nessa’s road trip through Scotland and all its sisterly subtext, as well as the flashbacks to Sarah’s girlhood. The only thing I found slightly jarring was the switching from first to third person between some chapters.

Sisters Sarah and Juliette go on a road trip to Scotland for Juliette's birthday. Sarah is carrying a lot of guilt over incidents that happened in their teenage years, and wants to unburden herself to Juliette. The dialogue between the sisters is really funny, and some of the situations in the book made me laugh out loud. I found the end part a bit shocking and ir didn't really fit with the tone of the rest of the book.
Good writing. Recommended.

The relationship between Sarah and Juliette was complex and many layered - and the pain from years of misinterpretations and judgment was really well written. I wasn’t sure if I liked the characters a lot of the time, despite what they were saying being really relatable.
Overall enjoyed

Thanks you NetGalley for Slags by Emma Jane Unsworth. I was drawn to this book by the cover and the title. Unfortunately I couldn’t get in to it and I found it a bit confusing.

DNF @ around 20%

I couldn't connect or relate to the story but i do think it was well written and it will appeal to others. Just wasn't my cup of tea.

Singleton, workaholic, Londoner, Sarah has hired a retro Hymer motorhome and has headed to her home town of Manchester to pick up her younger married with two kids, sister, Juliette who is a few years younger and about to turn 40. The birthday road trip follows the sisters around the Scottish Highlands. Sarah has some deep, dark secrets and hang ups and Juliette surprises her with some of her own. The narrative follows the sisters in the present day and with alternate chapters that flashback to Sarah's GCSE year when she plans to run off with her English teacher and hangs out with her tough friend Nessa and gets up to "no good." Men, boys, sex, alcohol and drugs are involved. I enjoyed this tale but some scenes were a bit strange and the pacing flagged a bit at times. There was a really badly written sex scene with an older man. It was really sad in parts. Overall, I liked it and would certainly read some more books by this author.

Sarah and her sister Juliette are adult women who have escaped to Scotland for a weekend without Juliette's children. The narrative flips and back and forth to when they were teenagers and crushing on teachers and other unsuitable boys. Juliette seems settled with her marriage but it's not quite as it seems whereas Sarah acts as carefree about sex as she did as a teen. This is a fairly quick and reasonably enjoyable read.

The author brought me back to the minefield that was my teenage years and the uncertainty of what was coming next, it’s a combination of nostalgia, sad and happy moments that made me smile and be glad those years are long gone. It’s my first time reading anything by this author and I especially liked the brutal honesty of it as we tend to look back at the teenage years with rose covered glasses forgetting all the angst and drama that went hand in hand trying to impress all the wrong people. Definitely a five star read.

After reading the preface for this book I was really looking forward to it. Pity it fell short in quite a few ways. Yes it took you back to school days and the crushes that we all went through, not necessary with teachers or people in authority but Joe Public themselves.

School friends who you thought would be friends for life, but then as you grow you find you have little in common.

The trip in the motorhome for the two sisters were really quite funny in places, and really down to earth.

Just felt a little confused in places as to which time period was being written about.

I loved Emma Jane Unsworth’s two previous novels and “Slags” did not disappoint. I enjoyed the relationship between the two sisters. I also loved the nineties nostalgia of the flashback diary entries. The novel kept me guessing the whole way through about what had really happened to Sarah as a teenager.
I’ll definitely buy this on release as I want my own copy.

3.5 ⭐

There's something about Unsworth that leaves me feeling nostalgic.
In this instance for the sibling relationship, the best friend at school.
Things aren't always peachy here, but at times she nails a moment, or a feeling and I'm right there with her.
A book that made me smile a lot.
At the good, and the bad.

as soon as I seen this book I KNEW I needed to read it, this book felt nostalgic, a breathe of fresh air. the humorous qualities throughout the book with the two sisters as they navigate their road trip fuelled with alcohol and memories, the first chapter drew me in and made me laugh out loud. the book definitely reminded me of old nostalgic tv shows and films.

THIS BOOK IS AMAZING

The most irritating, unfunny, cliche-ridden characters and narrative that I've come across in a long time

Thankyou net valley & harper Collins for the arc as soon as I saw this book I knew I needed to read it, this book felt like nostalgia a breath of fresh air, the humours qualities and quotes throughout as the two sisters navigate their road trip fuelled with alcohol and memories, the first chapter drew me in and made me laugh out loud. This book definitely reminded me of old nostalgic tv programmes like skins etc. would definitely recommend if you want a good read that separates from typical genres

Slags by Emma Jayne Unsworth:

Sarah hires a camper van for her sister Juilette’s birthday. Juliette is a mother, married to a decent, yet dull bloke. Sarah limps from hook up to hook up. The great love of her life was her English teacher, Mr Keavney. As the sisters head to Scotland by Hymer, the story switches between this and what happened in the Summer of Sarah’s last year in school.

I’ve been a fan of Unsworth’s writing for a long time - Animals was adapted as a film and didn’t quite capture the wabisabi of the book. This is a genuine treat. It’s funny, Rabelasian and Wildean by turns. It’s dead on in the way sister relates to sister. And, by turns men and boys relate to women.

It’s also brilliant on the ascending boho that was late 90’s Manchester. She’s also brave enough to stitch a fictional thread to this, the boy band 4Princes. What happens to Sarah is a genuine shock (and not the one you’re thinking of). When the novel takes a dark, sharp turn she’s still in control of a book that is sweet, sour, touching and horrifying all at the same time.

It’s published by Harper Collins on May 8th May, 2025 and I thank them for a preview copy. #slags

Two sisters go on a road trip to Scotland and use the time to go over their lives. Told in two timelines, Sarah aged 15 and 41. Very funny in places and emotional. Look forward to listening to this on audiobook when it is released. Thank you to Net Galley for an advanced copy

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of Slags by Emma Jane Unsworth. The cool cover grabbed my attention, and I was curious about the story. I admit, I was confused reading it. I wanted to love it because I think Emma's writing is very good. I just didn't make many connections with it.

Mixed feelings about this book on one hand I really enjoyed it I liked the underlaying messages about woman in society, I liked the duel timelines, I liked the Scottish landscape setting and I enjoyed the dark witty humour, I found the novel fairly well paced and the plot was good. However I found a lot of the plot lines under developed and a little bit confusing am still unsure why Sarah was so effected by the teacher saga, I found the characters at times very flat and stereotypical then at other times interesting and real. It was book that left me thinking, and I did find parts very tender and there was rawness that give the book an edge that allowed for the few flaws. I think the writer tries to shock sometimes with her writing but by being so extreme so of the plot and characters become lost among that. All in all a solid three stars