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Norolescenti
Fresh, bittersweet and anarchic, this is a gloriously subversive black comedy.
Meet Rowena Vincent: trainee mortician, aspiring beautician, serial shoplifter and Warrior Princess. Holed up with her mum in a Newcastle suburb and living on a steady diet of Bailey’s and chips, Rowena fantasizes about her absent dad and plans her own funeral music. But when she embarks on an energetic campaign to eliminate her mother’s new boyfriend, Bernard “Filthy” Luker, Rowena starts to lose her slippery grip on reality and is packed off to a teenage therapy group. Meet the Madolescents.
Meet Rowena Vincent: trainee mortician, aspiring beautician, serial shoplifter and Warrior Princess. Holed up with her mum in a Newcastle suburb and living on a steady diet of Bailey’s and chips, Rowena fantasizes about her absent dad and plans her own funeral music. But when she embarks on an energetic campaign to eliminate her mother’s new boyfriend, Bernard “Filthy” Luker, Rowena starts to lose her slippery grip on reality and is packed off to a teenage therapy group. Meet the Madolescents.
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First published January 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 24, 2022
Absolutely fell in love with this book and Rowena from the very beginning!
Such a beautiful and poignant coming-of-age book with harrowing mental health issues thrown in. With suffering from MH issues myself, I definitely felt like I connected with Ro on a personal level, which I feel makes a great character as well as story as you can relate to them more, and the character feels like a normal, real person.
This book gave me all the feels; times where I laughed, times where I was shocked, and times that hit me hard emotionally.
This is definitely one book that I would recommend to people, and I already have the sequel reserved at my library.
Such a beautiful and poignant coming-of-age book with harrowing mental health issues thrown in. With suffering from MH issues myself, I definitely felt like I connected with Ro on a personal level, which I feel makes a great character as well as story as you can relate to them more, and the character feels like a normal, real person.
This book gave me all the feels; times where I laughed, times where I was shocked, and times that hit me hard emotionally.
This is definitely one book that I would recommend to people, and I already have the sequel reserved at my library.
July 19, 2019
The Madolescents by Chrissie Glazebrook.
References are highly anglocentric, specifically a certain part of the country I have no familiarity with, and already feel dated. Could be a struggle for international readers. OTOH makes it feel authentic. Author has wonderful voice for Rowena who is sometimes ignorant, sometimes innocent, wholly vengeful and passionate. Fantastic portrayal of a teenager from northern working class background. Rest of characters in her orbit are all varying degrees of caricature. Helps with the humour which is book's stre
What is the book about? Summary.
We follow the trials and tribulations of Rowena, a teenage girl from a working class background in Newcastle. She’s working at an Undertaker’s to get by, with dreams of eventually becoming a beautician.She doesn’t like her mother’s new boyfriend and dreams about her absent father. She is slowly losing her grip on reality and is sent to a teenage therapy group, the titular Madolescents as she coins them. It touches on issues like mental health and sexual identity.
Rowena is a complicated character, one that’s not always easy to like. She straddles a line between ignorance and the innocence of youth, which is often used to superb comedic effect. She’s passionate and vengeful. She seldom tells the truth and often manipulates others to try to get what she wants, not always with the intended results.
The book’s strength lies in its humour. It’s what carried me through the frustrating parts to some of the more beautiful moments. A large part of that humour comes in the form of Rowena’s first person narration.The author has a wonderfully cynical and vulgar voice for her. The juxtaposition between what she actually says and her innermost thoughts, that only we as readers are privy to, leads to some wonderful moments of black comedy. There’s also lots of wordplay centred around Rowena’s ignorance that landed with varying degrees of success. The rest of the characters in her orbit are varying degrees of caricature, which definitely helps round out the humour in the rest of the book, but they otherwise feel undercooked.
The dialogue in the book feels incredibly authentic, to the point it might be difficult for foreign readers not familiar with Geordie dialect. The cultural references similarly are highly anglocentric and do now feel dated.
Rowena doesn’t seem to grow as a character and maybe that is the point. How many kids in her position go through such changes to their character in such a comparatively short space of time? Nevertheless it feels like the book ends more or less where we started. Things do and have happened, we just don’t see if those events have left their mark on her in this novel. I didn’t realize going in that there was another book featuring Rowena which appears to pick up where this leaves off. Maybe those issues are addressed there. I will certainly be trying it out.
It’s a worthwhile and entertaining read which has a rich vein of black humour coursing through it. Probably feels a bit dated now and might alienate those readers that hail from outside the UK. Recommended for those looking for some black comedy in their YA fiction.
3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
References are highly anglocentric, specifically a certain part of the country I have no familiarity with, and already feel dated. Could be a struggle for international readers. OTOH makes it feel authentic. Author has wonderful voice for Rowena who is sometimes ignorant, sometimes innocent, wholly vengeful and passionate. Fantastic portrayal of a teenager from northern working class background. Rest of characters in her orbit are all varying degrees of caricature. Helps with the humour which is book's stre
What is the book about? Summary.
We follow the trials and tribulations of Rowena, a teenage girl from a working class background in Newcastle. She’s working at an Undertaker’s to get by, with dreams of eventually becoming a beautician.She doesn’t like her mother’s new boyfriend and dreams about her absent father. She is slowly losing her grip on reality and is sent to a teenage therapy group, the titular Madolescents as she coins them. It touches on issues like mental health and sexual identity.
Rowena is a complicated character, one that’s not always easy to like. She straddles a line between ignorance and the innocence of youth, which is often used to superb comedic effect. She’s passionate and vengeful. She seldom tells the truth and often manipulates others to try to get what she wants, not always with the intended results.
The book’s strength lies in its humour. It’s what carried me through the frustrating parts to some of the more beautiful moments. A large part of that humour comes in the form of Rowena’s first person narration.The author has a wonderfully cynical and vulgar voice for her. The juxtaposition between what she actually says and her innermost thoughts, that only we as readers are privy to, leads to some wonderful moments of black comedy. There’s also lots of wordplay centred around Rowena’s ignorance that landed with varying degrees of success. The rest of the characters in her orbit are varying degrees of caricature, which definitely helps round out the humour in the rest of the book, but they otherwise feel undercooked.
The dialogue in the book feels incredibly authentic, to the point it might be difficult for foreign readers not familiar with Geordie dialect. The cultural references similarly are highly anglocentric and do now feel dated.
Rowena doesn’t seem to grow as a character and maybe that is the point. How many kids in her position go through such changes to their character in such a comparatively short space of time? Nevertheless it feels like the book ends more or less where we started. Things do and have happened, we just don’t see if those events have left their mark on her in this novel. I didn’t realize going in that there was another book featuring Rowena which appears to pick up where this leaves off. Maybe those issues are addressed there. I will certainly be trying it out.
It’s a worthwhile and entertaining read which has a rich vein of black humour coursing through it. Probably feels a bit dated now and might alienate those readers that hail from outside the UK. Recommended for those looking for some black comedy in their YA fiction.
3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
May 11, 2018
Don't expect too much, and you'll be entertained. This is not high-brow literature, and it will not stand the test of time of cultural references, among other things. It adresses social concerns that affect the generation - transgender, suicide, depression, non-nuclear families - but acceptance comes with a heavy dose of sarcasm and caricature. There are some downright beautiful moments and plenty of funny ones to make the read worthwhile.
July 27, 2024
Lost count of how many times I’ve read it. Glorious read, funny, sad, wild and dangerous. I loved Rowena so much, and appreciated this generous, acerbic and raw experience deeply.
Characters are so memorable and Glazebrook’s cutthroat talent for taking you exactly where you need to be with them is horrifying and amazing at the same time.
I read it as a teen and it scares me now I have teens of my own but I’d still curl up with it any day.
Vale Chrissie ❤️
Characters are so memorable and Glazebrook’s cutthroat talent for taking you exactly where you need to be with them is horrifying and amazing at the same time.
I read it as a teen and it scares me now I have teens of my own but I’d still curl up with it any day.
Vale Chrissie ❤️
April 5, 2025
I have read this book so many times, I think I was around 15 when I first read it & I’m almost 40 & enjoy it just as much now as I did years ago, I’m not sure if being from the north east is why it’s so relatable or just because Rowena is such a great lead in the story but there’s not a single thing I don’t like about this, it’s emotional & makes me laugh out loud and cry but it’s such an iconic book for me
June 12, 2020
One of my favourite YA novels which crosses over to any age.Dealing honestly and wonderfully with mental health, teenage angst, gender....set in the colorful 90's, its totally refreshing, hilarious, heartbreaking and honest.
September 4, 2025
I read this so many times as a teenager and it was a book that stuck with me over the years. I wanted to be Rowena M Vincent so much. I did read it again as an adult and don't think it's aged that well but good for a bit of late 90s nostalgia. It's very very loosely similar to one flew over the cuckoos nest. It's a coming of age story about a teenage girl growing up in the North East of England, she's quite alternative and has some real mental health issues and a fondness for Baileys. The second book the blue spark sisters wasn't really worth it but this was a favourite at the time.
March 31, 2025
Rowena M. Vincent. M kot Mona. M kot Munjena. Odštekana najstnica, izkušena tatica. Ribena (vsaj tako jo kliče njen šef v progrebnem zavodu) dela kot kozmetičarka za pravkar preminule. Poskrbi, da izgledajo fensi. Okej, enkrat jo je gospa Marr okregala, ker je starejša ženska v krsti izgledala kot 'kurba'. A vsi delamo napake. Njeno življenje se obrne na glavo, ko mama pripelje domov Svinjo. Najstnica z njim enostavno ne more shajati. Svoje frustracije spravi iz sebe posredno: v njegove koruzne kosmiče nasuje odrezke nohtov enega izmed trupel. V nič pa že ne bodo šli. Kmalu dobi novega kompanjona-črnega mačka, ki postane množični morilec. Rowena ga primerno poimenuje Bundy. Kot da v njenem življenju ni že dovolj štale. Pridružiti se mora terapevtski skupini. Skupino posebnežev poimenuje NOROLESCENTI. Druščina se hitro poveže med seboj in začne skupaj preživljati prosti čas. Med številnimi pustolovščinami so Rowenina kraja poročne obleke, prva ljubezen in raziskovanje sveta spolnosti.
Ko sem pri štirinajstih letih prvič prebrala to knjigo, sem bila šokirana, a pozitivno presenečena. Rowenina pripoved me je očarala. Po mojem skromnem mnenju, je @irenadusa napisala najboljši prevod, ki sem ga prebrala v svojih 30 letih. Njene stilistične odločitve dodajo Roweni poseben pridih, zaradi česar postane le-ta več kot le lik na listu papirja. Skorajda lahko ob branju slišiš utrip njenega srca in vonjaš njene lase. Knjiga je name napravila tako močan vtis, da se dnevno spominjam posebej smešnih odsekov.
Ko sem pri štirinajstih letih prvič prebrala to knjigo, sem bila šokirana, a pozitivno presenečena. Rowenina pripoved me je očarala. Po mojem skromnem mnenju, je @irenadusa napisala najboljši prevod, ki sem ga prebrala v svojih 30 letih. Njene stilistične odločitve dodajo Roweni poseben pridih, zaradi česar postane le-ta več kot le lik na listu papirja. Skorajda lahko ob branju slišiš utrip njenega srca in vonjaš njene lase. Knjiga je name napravila tako močan vtis, da se dnevno spominjam posebej smešnih odsekov.
August 13, 2012
Really love this book, lost count how many times I have read it.
February 17, 2013
Read this book when I was 18 and enjoyed it and now have recently re-read it(10years on!) still an enjoyable read.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews