Stuck On Me by Hilary Freeman
Mar. 3rd, 2012 11:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
Sky is going through a growth spurt and, terrifyingly, her nose seems to be growing faster than the rest of her face!
Sky’s best friends Rosie and Vix don’t understand her obsession. She’s pretty – what’s the problem? But when Sky’s boyfriend dumps her, it’s the final straw. Determined to do something about her nose, she sets out on a journey that takes all three girls to parts of Camden Town they have never seen before …
Ever since 14-year-old Sky’s aunt mentioned that Sky had inherited her father’s nose, she’s had a complex about it. Despite the assurances of her friends, Rosie and Vix, and her boyfriend, Rich, she can’t stop obsessing about it, even though it’s trying everyone’s patience leads to Rich dumping her.
Determined to get a nose job, Sky sets out to find someone who can help her but in the process, she also becomes curious about the father who abandoned her family five years earlier. As she tries to trace him, Sky learns more about her family and who she really is.
The second in Hilary Freeman’s Camden Town Tales trilogy is a witty story with strong themes of self-image and heritage and set in vibrant Camden.
I particularly liked Sky’s strong first person voice and the way in which she expresses her fears and concerns. Her complete lack of awareness as to how irritating her nose obsession was allows for a lot of comedy, as does the way she dismisses her friends’ and family’s attempts to reassure her. I also liked her relationship with her mum who’s clearly more ‘new age’ than other parents but who deeply loves Sky and her sisters Grass and Ocean and the non-judgmental way in which Freeman shows Sky’s father, a self-absorbed man who cares in his own way but isn’t equipped to be a proper father..
There are strong themes in the book about self-image and the way in which the media leads to girls having a distorted sense of self-worth but it never gets preachy. A scene where Sky meets a plastic surgeon willing to do a rhinoplasty on her despite the fact that she’s under age is chilling and I could easily believe the relationship between Sky and Rich and the way in which Sky tries to rationalise her worries that Rich is losing interest while at the same time having it feed into her own concerns over her appearance.
Forming the backdrop to all these events is the London borough of Camden, which is recreated with an insider’s eye and a local’s love. The little details about pubs and clubs really help to bring the location to life.
All in all this is a fun, fast read that deals with a serious subject in an enjoyable and non-preachy way. I will definitely be checking out the other books in this trilogy.
The Verdict:
The second in Hilary Freeman’s CAMDEN TOWN TALES trilogy is a fun, fast read that looks at teen self-image in a non-preachy way and I’ll definitely be reading the other books in this trilogy.
Sky is going through a growth spurt and, terrifyingly, her nose seems to be growing faster than the rest of her face!
Sky’s best friends Rosie and Vix don’t understand her obsession. She’s pretty – what’s the problem? But when Sky’s boyfriend dumps her, it’s the final straw. Determined to do something about her nose, she sets out on a journey that takes all three girls to parts of Camden Town they have never seen before …
Ever since 14-year-old Sky’s aunt mentioned that Sky had inherited her father’s nose, she’s had a complex about it. Despite the assurances of her friends, Rosie and Vix, and her boyfriend, Rich, she can’t stop obsessing about it, even though it’s trying everyone’s patience leads to Rich dumping her.
Determined to get a nose job, Sky sets out to find someone who can help her but in the process, she also becomes curious about the father who abandoned her family five years earlier. As she tries to trace him, Sky learns more about her family and who she really is.
The second in Hilary Freeman’s Camden Town Tales trilogy is a witty story with strong themes of self-image and heritage and set in vibrant Camden.
I particularly liked Sky’s strong first person voice and the way in which she expresses her fears and concerns. Her complete lack of awareness as to how irritating her nose obsession was allows for a lot of comedy, as does the way she dismisses her friends’ and family’s attempts to reassure her. I also liked her relationship with her mum who’s clearly more ‘new age’ than other parents but who deeply loves Sky and her sisters Grass and Ocean and the non-judgmental way in which Freeman shows Sky’s father, a self-absorbed man who cares in his own way but isn’t equipped to be a proper father..
There are strong themes in the book about self-image and the way in which the media leads to girls having a distorted sense of self-worth but it never gets preachy. A scene where Sky meets a plastic surgeon willing to do a rhinoplasty on her despite the fact that she’s under age is chilling and I could easily believe the relationship between Sky and Rich and the way in which Sky tries to rationalise her worries that Rich is losing interest while at the same time having it feed into her own concerns over her appearance.
Forming the backdrop to all these events is the London borough of Camden, which is recreated with an insider’s eye and a local’s love. The little details about pubs and clubs really help to bring the location to life.
All in all this is a fun, fast read that deals with a serious subject in an enjoyable and non-preachy way. I will definitely be checking out the other books in this trilogy.
The Verdict:
The second in Hilary Freeman’s CAMDEN TOWN TALES trilogy is a fun, fast read that looks at teen self-image in a non-preachy way and I’ll definitely be reading the other books in this trilogy.
