Really enjoyed this so many references to things from my teenage years a very nostalgic & well written book I would highly recommend reading it.

I initially tried to read the physical copy of this book and didn’t get on with it, but I loved the audio version. I enjoyed the story and characters but for me the audio just flowed much better. I liked how it showed how things can be seen so different from the perspective of a teenage girl. I also liked the complex sibling relationship.

The story is told in a dual timeline—teenage Sarah in the 90s and adult Sarah in the present—and it dives deep into sisterhood, sex, family drama, and all the weird, beautiful messiness of growing up (and still growing through life). I’ll be honest, I’m not a 90s kid, so some of the nostalgia bits didn’t hit me as hard, but that teenage voice? Still totally relatable. That overwhelming intensity, the bad decisions, the awkwardness—it all felt spot on.

I especially loved the way Unsworth wrote the relationship between Sarah and her sister Juliette. It’s competitive, full of in-jokes and tension, but also layered with love. It felt really authentic, like a real-life sibling dynamic with all the ups and downs.

While I personally found teenage Sarah’s chapters a bit more gripping than adult Sarah’s, the way both timelines reflect and feed into each other is super clever. It’s like watching someone unpack who they used to be and how that person still echoes in who they are now.

All in all, Slags made me laugh, cringe, nod along, and even tear up in places. It’s a raw, witty, and very real look at life and all the complicated stuff that comes with it. Big thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the listening copy—definitely glad I picked this one up!

Slags covers two pivotal period's in Sarah's life. The Summer she is Studying for G.C.S.E's and a camping trip she takes with her sister in current times.
The cover hooked me from the beginning so was delighted to be given an advanced listening copy and it did not disappoint.
This book resonated with me for so many reasons. I am an Xennial! I have a Sister! I live in Scotland and have ties to Greater Manchester! I loved a Boy Band in the 90's one from Greater Manchester (hee! Hee!)
Unsworth casts a humoursly critical eye over what it is like to be a single, childless perimenopausal woman in 2025 ; looking back on her teenage self and thinking how did we get here?
I didn't take to the narrator straight away but I also didn't take to Sarah straight away . Once The story opened up a bit more she really breathed life into the characters.
This story will stay with me a while and I know for sure when I am at the Robbie Williams concert on Saturday with my own wee sister, I'll look around just for a moment to see if I can spot Sarah and Juliet.

such a good & relatable book! the good, the bad & the ugly of growing up as a woman and the relationships you form throughout your life

i think most people will relate in one way or another to the stories told - i spent half the book doubting myself whether the teacher romance was actually real or in her head too so it was pretty well written & convincing enough to really show the depth of the protagonist’s denial

it definitely gave off a lot of fleabag vibes at the start but that somewhat wore off later! i will definitely be checking out more of the author’s work

overall an enjoyable one, and i enjoyed the audiobook/narrator also! thank you harper collins UK audio & net galley for an advanced listener copy in exchange for an honest review :)

I loved this book so much!! I loved the back and forth between the past the present and how we could piece other the lives of both sisters. I loved the coming of age feel to the chapters from the past and looooved the way those chapters flowed. It felt like such a real book and definitely tackled a few things that a lot of teenagers would have dealt with. I felt like I couldn’t put this down and wanted to keep saying “just one more chapter”!

I was so gutted when I didn’t get the netgalley proof for this but then I was lucky enough to get the audiobook recently! I did my usual reading the book with the audiobook alongside and it was such a good idea. The audiobook was so fab and definitely added to the feel of the book and the “northern” aspect.

I’d definitely recommend this book if you like a bit of coming of age mixed with aging and trying to figure out life.

A dark, twisty little gem about two sisters tangled up in secrets, grief, and complicated love. The audiobook narration is spot on. It genuinely added to the tension and kept me locked in.

Loved the dual timelines, past and present weaving together in that slow-burn way. That said, for a book set partly in the 90s, I wanted more actual 90s. Aside from a mint consulate it didn’t fully scratch that nostalgic itch.

Still, smart, raw, and gripping.

I didn’t really come to this book but I thought the story was good. I just found myself bored and in disagreement with the status quo. If you were a bit more outwardly confident growing up then you might enjoy it more. Thank you NetGalley for letting me read and review

Das liegt definitiv über meinem Sprachniveau, vö7ch kann eigentlich überhaupt nicht beurteilen, ob es nur gefällt. Sorry. Danke fürs bereit stellen vom Hörbuch.

I loved this book. Loved the narrator. Loved the characters. Loved the story. It’s a dark tale disguised as a comedy. A tale of two sisters and their relationship but also of how one single event can cause problems throughout your life.
Now I am off to look up the author and see if she has written any other gems

I was super excited to get my hands on an audio ARC of this book.
The cover is absolutely phenomenal and I was assuming that the manuscript would give of the same vibe. Instead, we follow the main character Sarah through two timelines — one where she is a teenager and the other when she is in her forties.

I really didn’t identify with Sarah as the main character, and I think that’s why I struggled with it so much. While decision-making as a teenager can be a little silly and naïve, I wasn’t expecting that to be the case throughout Sarah’s whole life.
It’s clear that her character had been through a lot, and some of it involves trauma, which I do sympathise with.

I was also disappointed that there was only one mention of “slags” throughout as I assumed this was going to be a big deep dive into the word, the meaning and culture.

The pacing was hard for me to keep up with, and the fact that the audiobook didn’t clearly signify the changes in timeline was quite confusing. I had to listen for a while before I got the hang of it.

Overall, it was an interesting read, but definitely not one of my top books of the year so far.

Thank you to The Borough Press, HarperCollinsUK Audio, NetGalley, and the author for the opportunity to review this book.

**Listened to the audio version**

Firstly, I have to say that the narrator was just perfect for this book! I found her really dry, and her sense of humour just worked so brilliantly.
However, I just couldn't get into the book fully down to the writing. I have liked Emma Jane Unsworth's books in the past, but I just found this book took a long time to get going - and then when things started happening, I just didn't really care about the characters or what happened to them due to this slow start.

This book was just OK - not one that will stay with me.

This book kept me hooked the entire time. As the author says in the epilogue, it read like a one-to-one chat, as if you're being spoken to. Slags manages to capture the subtle yet ever-present obstacles in relationships, while also bringing forward the love that is still held for the other person. How huge things can be madeto be so small and small things feel so huge sometimes.

Narrator did a splendid job creating an immersive experience.

A huge thanks to Emma Jane Unsworth, NetGalley and HarperCollins for the ALC. I genuinely enjoyed listening to it.

Splendid, so good, I binged it !
Finally a realistic teenage girl's pov, it is raw and unapologetic.
One of the best book I read this year, so far.

Thanks to netgalley for the copy !

I’ll read anything Emma Jane Unsworth puts out at this point, she’s that good. Slags definitely kept me entertained from start to finish. The writing is sharp, the pacing tight, and the narrator absolutely nailed the tone and delivery.

That said, I didn’t feel the same emotional connection to this story as I did with Animals. Maybe it’s because I didn’t grow up close to my siblings, so the dynamic at the heart of this book didn’t quite land for me in the same way. Still, Unsworth knows how to write complex women and messy relationships better than most, and this one is no exception.

It might not have hit me as hard, but it’s smart, well-crafted, and totally worth the listen.

The novel was hard to get into at first but improved once it was more focused on the scenes and less on general musings… for a while. Turns out, it meanders constantly, delving into flashbacks instead of moving the story forward. I was bored and grew incredibly frustrated with the constant jumping around. Then we get the shift to her fifteen-year-old self and it’s not much better. No plot was able to blossom, ever, and because we’d spent so much time with her at age forty before we go back to her school years, I felt zero tension with the whole teacher storyline. The narrator was good, but not enough to keep me engaged.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harpercollins UK Audio for the audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Slags is a funny and frank exploration of sisterhood and sex. This totally comes alive through the audiobook.
The dynamics between the characters felt real, raw and at times emotional. The impact they had on eachother is portrayed so well.
I loved the humour and banter, those in jokes that I felt a part of. Hearing the narration of this made you feel like you were in on these jokes.
The timelines change and the writing changes with it in very subtle shifts that I felt showed great writing skills.
The way sexual relationships are examined is likely to be difficult to read for some, but very true to life and some peoples experiences. Making this for a deep and moving piece of fiction.
I’m only giving three stars for the fact that the pacing for me felt off at times otherwise it would have been a higher rating. The content is brilliant though and anyone who grew up in the 90s will also get a nostalgic read, which for me is always a winner.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an audio ARC. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.

I was absolutely ecstatic to be accepted to review Slags, I absolutely loved Animals and I knew Emma Jane Unsworth would have written something I could relate to, and I was right.

Slags sees two sisters Sarah and Juliette setting off to Scotland on a little campervan break to celebrate Juliette’s 40th birthday. Over a split timeline we are transported back to the 90’s, back to being 15 back to boys and bands and booze and for Sarah books, Shakespeare specifically and the young English teacher who writes messages on her essays.

Throughout the road trip the woman bicker and bond in the way that only sisters really do, they’ve always been different, haven’t they? They reluctantly rehash old memories and in the end some new truths come out.

The nostalgia of the 90’s setting was so strong. So many memories so much to relate to. I loved it, I loved the plain speaking sisters. The authenticity of the writing. The highs the lows and the realisations. I loved being catapulted from one emotion to another.
I’m even enjoying the little ear worm that stayed with me from the very first pages.

Another winner!

Chloe Massey narrates beautifully again 🎧

Huge thanks to HarperCollins UK Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this title, which is available now.

I enjoyed this book with it's darkly comedic moments and it provided quite the trip down memory lane. Sad and touching in parts I felt really sorry for Sarah as she navigated her teenage years which are undoubtedly hard for everyone, especially girls. Some of it touched a nerve for me.

The relationship between the sisters was well written and heartwarming and the narrator was fantastic.

First of all, what a title! I hadn’t read anything by this author before but couldn’t resist, and I’m really glad I listened to it as I devoured this funny, moving and nostalgic read, and the audiobook narrator was especially good.

Whilst there are some shocking, dark and gross moments in this novel, I really loved the way our main character owned the word ‘slag’ whilst also eventually showing her vulnerability. But what truly kept me hooked were the strong female friendships and bonds between sisters, and the razor sharp humour - I’d definitely read more by this author now!