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quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
Meet Indi.
She’s new to Manchester with approximately zero friends. Unless you count Gary, who, unfortunately, is a gecko.
If Indi’s going to find some real mates - and maybe even a boyfriend - she’s going to have to FAKE IT.
How else is she going to survive her first job in a chippy, which is anything but glam vibes? And how on earth will she attract school crush, Johnny Hotpants, while smelling like a haddock in a hairnet?
Will Indi get her first kiss? Will she accept her mum’s new boyfriend (yuck)? And will she EVER learn that just being yourself is the most important thing of all?
A HILARIOUS new teen diary series about trying to be cool when you just want to eat chicken nuggets and chat to your pet lizard.
13-year-old Indiana “Indi” Raye has recently moved to Manchester with her mum (who she calls Tubs). Tubs caught Indi’s dad, Paul, with another woman and the pair have now split up so Tubs decided to move from Croydon to Manchester because it’s where she grew up. Now the pair are living in a flat on the 11th floor of a tower block with a rickety lift that Indi hates using, meaning that she always has to take the stairs. She’s about to start Year 9 at St Catherine’s Secondary School and she’s quite stressed about trying to make friends and maybe even get a boyfriend (which she thinks is impossible given that she’s flat chested and hasn’t even started her period yet).
Fortunately it’s not long before she meets Reece, who’s a bit of a geek but nice in a way that comes across as a bit keen at times in a way that Indi can’t handle. It also looks like there’s a chance to become friends with Nisha (who plays on the school hockey team and doesn’t really care what people think) and Grace (who’s absolutely gorgeous, is minted but still really wants to be in with the cool girls at school). But that’s only if Tubs doesn’t get in the way of it all by getting Indi a Saturday job at the local chip shop so she’ll stink of grease all the time.
Over the course of the school year, Indi is going to learn more about herself, what she wants and who she wants to be but on the way she’s going to encounter a pet lizard called Gary, the weirdly nice neighbour across the hall called Jonathan who might have a thing for her mum and Johnny Hotpants, the hottest boy in school who might actually be interested in her. Until then though, she’s going to have to keep faking it as much as she can until she makes it …
Lauren Layfield’s debut funny coming-of-age novel for readers aged 11+ has some amusing moments (notably Indi’s imagined conversations with Gary the lizard) but I found Indi to be both a very unsympathetic character and also written in such a way that I didn’t believe in her lack of emotional depth or self-awareness. Indi does grow in the final quarter of the book when she is called out on bad behaviour, but for me it was too little, too late.
I’m going to start by saying that there were some things that I enjoyed about this book. The scenes between Indi and her pet lizard Gary are actually genuinely funny and I wanted more of them in the book - in fact the story line about how Indi comes to buy Gary in the first place from a kid in school could - and in my opinion should - have been a bit more significant because it had a lot of potential. Layfield does explore this a little with Indi discovering that there are a number of stories going around the school about what she actually bought.
The big issue though is that you are clearly supposed to like Indi in this book. Layfield seems to be going for showing Indi as someone who gets herself into messes because she’s embarrassed by the fact that her mum doesn’t have much money and that her dad no longer lives with them and this is supposed to make you feel sorry for her even as you recognise that what she’s doing is foolish. The problem is that the lies she tells are so outrageously and blatantly untrue and at the same time completely stupid that there is never any possibility of her new friends believing them (something which actually gets pointed out in the final quarter) that she just comes across as an absolute idiot. At the same time, she is really quite unthinkingly cruel and unpleasant, most notably to Reece who is literally the only person in the school who’s talking to her in a friendly way at the same time as she is complaining about not having any friends. She keeps pushing him away and blanking him when he is trying to be a good friend and it really annoyed me that he kept coming back as Indi has done nothing to deserve it.
Part of the issue is that we really don’t know much about Indi’s life before the move to Manchester. For someone who is worried about making friends, I’d have believed it more if we’d heard something about her friends in Croydon - instead there is zero mention of it, like she’s just been guillotined into this story, which makes it automatically difficult to believe in her. Also, given how unsympathetic Indi is to her mum (who is clearly depressed at the start of the book following her breakup with Indi’s dad) I wanted to know just why she is so forgiving of her dad who clearly leaves them for periods of time and who has been carrying on with other women. It’s not that I can’t believe Indi would be on her dad’s side but I at least need to understand why she has that emotional connection and other than a love of music there’s no clear explanation here. It’s made worse by the fact that this continues even when her dad makes zero attempt to contact her and when he does finally show up, there are almost no scenes between them to reinforce a connection, which means that when she does call him on his bad behaviour it feels unearned.
This is a shame because there are moments in the scenes with Nisha and Grace that work quite well - I particularly believed in Indi’s need to hold onto their Beehive and a scene where they go to see Grace’s brother’s band play is relatable and has a lot of energy to it. I would also say that I liked the practical, no nonsense Nisha and Grace who has good looks and money but also is really desperate to be in with the popular kids. The scene where Nisha and Grace call Indi out on some really appalling behaviour at the chip shop had me nodding along approvingly and I wished that there had been more of it. Speaking of the chip shop, one thing that did annoy me is that it’s illegal for 13-year-olds to work in a chip shop in the UK (neither Indi nor Nisha could legally work there until they were 16) so none of those scenes worked for me at all.
I did stop feeling so hostile to Indi due to the events that happened in the last quarter of the book when she starts to go through some emotional development. However by that point it was too little, too late as I had found her so annoying, immature and downright selfish and unpleasant that even though there is a set-up for a sequel, I’m not interested in checking it out.
The Verdict:
Lauren Layfield’s debut funny coming-of-age novel for readers aged 11+ has some amusing moments (notably Indi’s imagined conversations with Gary the lizard) but I found Indi to be both a very unsympathetic character and also written in such a way that I didn’t believe in her lack of emotional depth or self-awareness. Indi does grow in the final quarter of the book when she is called out on bad behaviour, but for me it was too little, too late.
INDI RAYE IS TOTALLY FAKING IT was released in the United Kingdom on 31st August 2023. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.
She’s new to Manchester with approximately zero friends. Unless you count Gary, who, unfortunately, is a gecko.
If Indi’s going to find some real mates - and maybe even a boyfriend - she’s going to have to FAKE IT.
How else is she going to survive her first job in a chippy, which is anything but glam vibes? And how on earth will she attract school crush, Johnny Hotpants, while smelling like a haddock in a hairnet?
Will Indi get her first kiss? Will she accept her mum’s new boyfriend (yuck)? And will she EVER learn that just being yourself is the most important thing of all?
13-year-old Indiana “Indi” Raye has recently moved to Manchester with her mum (who she calls Tubs). Tubs caught Indi’s dad, Paul, with another woman and the pair have now split up so Tubs decided to move from Croydon to Manchester because it’s where she grew up. Now the pair are living in a flat on the 11th floor of a tower block with a rickety lift that Indi hates using, meaning that she always has to take the stairs. She’s about to start Year 9 at St Catherine’s Secondary School and she’s quite stressed about trying to make friends and maybe even get a boyfriend (which she thinks is impossible given that she’s flat chested and hasn’t even started her period yet).
Fortunately it’s not long before she meets Reece, who’s a bit of a geek but nice in a way that comes across as a bit keen at times in a way that Indi can’t handle. It also looks like there’s a chance to become friends with Nisha (who plays on the school hockey team and doesn’t really care what people think) and Grace (who’s absolutely gorgeous, is minted but still really wants to be in with the cool girls at school). But that’s only if Tubs doesn’t get in the way of it all by getting Indi a Saturday job at the local chip shop so she’ll stink of grease all the time.
Over the course of the school year, Indi is going to learn more about herself, what she wants and who she wants to be but on the way she’s going to encounter a pet lizard called Gary, the weirdly nice neighbour across the hall called Jonathan who might have a thing for her mum and Johnny Hotpants, the hottest boy in school who might actually be interested in her. Until then though, she’s going to have to keep faking it as much as she can until she makes it …
Lauren Layfield’s debut funny coming-of-age novel for readers aged 11+ has some amusing moments (notably Indi’s imagined conversations with Gary the lizard) but I found Indi to be both a very unsympathetic character and also written in such a way that I didn’t believe in her lack of emotional depth or self-awareness. Indi does grow in the final quarter of the book when she is called out on bad behaviour, but for me it was too little, too late.
I’m going to start by saying that there were some things that I enjoyed about this book. The scenes between Indi and her pet lizard Gary are actually genuinely funny and I wanted more of them in the book - in fact the story line about how Indi comes to buy Gary in the first place from a kid in school could - and in my opinion should - have been a bit more significant because it had a lot of potential. Layfield does explore this a little with Indi discovering that there are a number of stories going around the school about what she actually bought.
The big issue though is that you are clearly supposed to like Indi in this book. Layfield seems to be going for showing Indi as someone who gets herself into messes because she’s embarrassed by the fact that her mum doesn’t have much money and that her dad no longer lives with them and this is supposed to make you feel sorry for her even as you recognise that what she’s doing is foolish. The problem is that the lies she tells are so outrageously and blatantly untrue and at the same time completely stupid that there is never any possibility of her new friends believing them (something which actually gets pointed out in the final quarter) that she just comes across as an absolute idiot. At the same time, she is really quite unthinkingly cruel and unpleasant, most notably to Reece who is literally the only person in the school who’s talking to her in a friendly way at the same time as she is complaining about not having any friends. She keeps pushing him away and blanking him when he is trying to be a good friend and it really annoyed me that he kept coming back as Indi has done nothing to deserve it.
Part of the issue is that we really don’t know much about Indi’s life before the move to Manchester. For someone who is worried about making friends, I’d have believed it more if we’d heard something about her friends in Croydon - instead there is zero mention of it, like she’s just been guillotined into this story, which makes it automatically difficult to believe in her. Also, given how unsympathetic Indi is to her mum (who is clearly depressed at the start of the book following her breakup with Indi’s dad) I wanted to know just why she is so forgiving of her dad who clearly leaves them for periods of time and who has been carrying on with other women. It’s not that I can’t believe Indi would be on her dad’s side but I at least need to understand why she has that emotional connection and other than a love of music there’s no clear explanation here. It’s made worse by the fact that this continues even when her dad makes zero attempt to contact her and when he does finally show up, there are almost no scenes between them to reinforce a connection, which means that when she does call him on his bad behaviour it feels unearned.
This is a shame because there are moments in the scenes with Nisha and Grace that work quite well - I particularly believed in Indi’s need to hold onto their Beehive and a scene where they go to see Grace’s brother’s band play is relatable and has a lot of energy to it. I would also say that I liked the practical, no nonsense Nisha and Grace who has good looks and money but also is really desperate to be in with the popular kids. The scene where Nisha and Grace call Indi out on some really appalling behaviour at the chip shop had me nodding along approvingly and I wished that there had been more of it. Speaking of the chip shop, one thing that did annoy me is that it’s illegal for 13-year-olds to work in a chip shop in the UK (neither Indi nor Nisha could legally work there until they were 16) so none of those scenes worked for me at all.
I did stop feeling so hostile to Indi due to the events that happened in the last quarter of the book when she starts to go through some emotional development. However by that point it was too little, too late as I had found her so annoying, immature and downright selfish and unpleasant that even though there is a set-up for a sequel, I’m not interested in checking it out.
The Verdict:
Lauren Layfield’s debut funny coming-of-age novel for readers aged 11+ has some amusing moments (notably Indi’s imagined conversations with Gary the lizard) but I found Indi to be both a very unsympathetic character and also written in such a way that I didn’t believe in her lack of emotional depth or self-awareness. Indi does grow in the final quarter of the book when she is called out on bad behaviour, but for me it was too little, too late.
INDI RAYE IS TOTALLY FAKING IT was released in the United Kingdom on 31st August 2023. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.
