• Started on: 2012-02-24
• Finished on: 2012-02-26
• Read in: English
• Rating: ****-
• Genre(s): General Fiction

I bought this book purely because of the title, and the pretty cover. All it said on the back was that this was a story about a brother and a sister, and about growing up. Not much to go on, but I am glad I did.
The story is told by Elly, a girl growing up in England. She is very attached to her brother Joe, who is five years older than her, and took care of her when their mother was depressed because of the death of her parents. This makes the two of them very close. She has a friend, Jenny Penny, who is growing up with a young single mother, who has many boyfriends, and you just know that a lot is wrong in Jenny Penny’s life. When Elly is 9 the family moves, making Elly slowly lose touch with Jenny Penny. The book has a pause, picking up again when Elly and Jenny Penny get re-acquainted. It is the end of the nineties, and Elly and Joe have grown up, but they don’t know everything yet.
This is indeed a book about a brother and a sister, and their relationship. But also about how they grow up, and the influence they have on their friends and their friends have on them. It is also about their extended family, about growing older, about accepting death, about being content in your life. It is about finding love, and accepting who you are, and who others are. Quite a lot for a little over 300 pages, but it all fits. I really enjoyed the emotional rollercoaster of this book, to me, it is complete. I loved all the characters, and they seemed real to me, with good and bad sides. Four out of five stars.