And Actually: A YA Novel

by Denise Deegan

“Rachel Dunne!” Rebecca says and I know she’s remembering. Everything. I’m remembering too – all her names for stupid and what it was like to be called them, having stuff stolen and worn to my face and how a smile can kill.

My friends, Alex and Sarah, think I’m the strong one. I’ve no clue how that happened. But strong is the last thing I feel when I get a part on a TV drama and come face-to-face with Rebecca, the bully from my past. Last time, I ran. This time, I can’t let her win. I’ve too much to lose.

And Actually can be read as a standalone book or as part of The Butterfly Novels trilogy.

For fans
* Sarah Dessen
* complex emotional YA stories
* YA stories about friends
* YA performing arts novels

What people are saying about this beloved friendship

“Deegan gets into Rachel's head in a way that makes her sympathetic and not whiny, even when her life suck major balls.” FOREVER YOUNG ADULT

“ And Actually is a story about bullying and, for anyone who's suffered, this will definitely hit a nerve. I think this would be a great book for anyone wanting to understand bullying better.” LUNA'S LITTLE LIBRARY

“Sharp dialogue, realistic romance and characters so believable that they stay with you long after you've finished reading.” KISS MAGAZINE

“Wonderful Dublin setting, and sparkling, fast-paced dialogue, complete with humour. (When Rachel introduces us to her agent, she ‘Think Edna Mode from The Incredibles but tone it down a bit; she's Irish.’)” CHICKLISH

272 pages, Paperback

Published April 7, 2023

About the author

Award-winning and best-selling author, Denise Deegan lives in Dublin with her family where she regularly dreams of sunshine, a life without cooking and her novels being made into movies.

Denise has been a nurse, a china restorer, a pharmaceutical sales rep, a public relations officer, an entrepreneur and a college lecturer. Her most difficult job was being a checkout girl, although ultimately this experience did inspire a short story…

Denise writes for both adults and teenagers. Her novels have been published by Penguin, Random House, Hachette and Lake Union Publishing. Writing under the pen name Aimee Alexander, Denise's contemporary family dramas have become international best-sellers on Kindle.

Under her own name, Denise has written a much-loved contemporary Young Adult trilogy, the Butterfly Novels, the second of which was nominated for an Irish Book Award.

Denise's most recent novel, Through the Barricades, won the international SCBWI Spark Award.