Cleaner follows a woman who moves back in with her parents and becomes obsessed with cleaning, reflecting on feeling lost and lonely in your twenties. It’s written in a conversational style which isn’t afraid to experiment, with prose which is fast-paced and meandering, bringing across a strong character voice. There were some fantastic descriptions and clever references which made this a vibrant and memorable read, and I loved how modern it felt.

Because of the style, I did feel like it was difficult to get a handle on what was happening, with the narrator moving from topic to topic without stopping. It immerses you in the character’s head in a stream of consciousness style, which was great for making this very relatable and realistic, but meant the narrative did lose some of its impact.

If you’re looking for a fast-paced, character-led novel with a unique and relevant writing style, I’d definitely recommend picking this up.

“Cleaner” follows an unnamed narrator, who has found herself living back at her parents’ house (even though they’re not that keen on having her there, and keener on moving in a Ukrainian refugee). She is wondering what to do next with her life when she discovers a passion for cleaning that leads her - through a series of apparently passively-made decisions - to pose as a nude model and then become obsessed with an artist - Isabella - who makes a sketch of her.

The book reads like a fever dream as she calmly narrates her very unpredictable and sometimes bafflingly unlikely actions as she tries to find Isabella again. It reminded me of Halle Butler’s “The New Me” in that way. It is wry and amusing but there’s a heart of something darker. An enjoyable read.

Cleaner by Jess Shannon is a debut novel worth reading - a realistically flawed but relatable narrator struggling to work out what she wants to do.