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Untidy Towns
Seventeen-year-old Adelaide is sick of being expected to succeed on other people’s terms. She knows she just has to stick it out at school for one more year and then she’ll be free. Instead, she runs away from her fancy boarding school back to her sleepy hometown to read and dream.
But there are no free rides. When Addie’s grandad gets her a job at the local historical society, she soon finds out that it’s dusty and dull, just like her new life. Things change when she starts hanging out with Jarrod, a boy who seems full of possibilities. But it turns out he’s as stuck as she is. And Addie realises that when you want something in life, you’ve actually got to do something about it.
A heartfelt tale about love, friendship and finding your own way.
But there are no free rides. When Addie’s grandad gets her a job at the local historical society, she soon finds out that it’s dusty and dull, just like her new life. Things change when she starts hanging out with Jarrod, a boy who seems full of possibilities. But it turns out he’s as stuck as she is. And Addie realises that when you want something in life, you’ve actually got to do something about it.
A heartfelt tale about love, friendship and finding your own way.
300 pages, Paperback
First published October 2, 2017
7 people are currently reading
571 people want to read
About the author
Kate O'Donnell
2 books41 followersI grew up in the first golden age of Australian YA literature (i.e. the 90s) and have worked as a bookseller since I was fourteen, when I got my start packing school booklists through hot summers in the agricultural & livestock sheds at the Geelong Showgrounds. (Do I still imagine this place as the Wirrawee setting for Tomorrow, When the War Began? Why, yes, yes I do.)
I am a writer, editor, and children’s bookseller based in Melbourne, Australia.
Will pat your dog.
I am a writer, editor, and children’s bookseller based in Melbourne, Australia.
Will pat your dog.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 82 reviews
January 18, 2021
“This moment felt significant so I lay there and tried to breathe it in, to suck it down and store it. It felt important. I felt swelled with it.”
Definitely could have been and should have been a 5 stars read for me.
The first half made me immensely happy to read: the small town feel was just ahhhh. *happy sigh* I really wished it would have focused on their friend group though. I just didn’t like the languid and ambiguous character development thing, it went on for too long and became sort of annoying.
“People must not have realized how much they meant to me. Like Jen, I felt close to her in spite of the distance I’d created, and I wanted to tell her.”
October 7, 2017
The writing in Untidy Towns is wonderful. This is a book where nothing much happens in the best possible way. It's about stressing over what comes after high school, what to do next. I think if I'd read this book when I was in year 12 I would have been incredibly reassured: you don't need to have all the answers. I didn't achieve well in school. That may have been my own fault, but it didn't stop me stressing about it. If someone told me that I could work for a couple of years until I figured out what I wanted to do then go to uni regardless of my TERRIBLE mark, I probably would have been a lot happier. And guess what, that's what happened. Then I got 1st class Hons and a perfect GPA on my Masters BECAUSE - 3 or 4 years down the line, I actually knew what I wanted and could set my mind to it. Anyway, I'm rambling because this book has made me nostalgic. You should read it for its great characters and reflective prose. Also, the way LGBTQ characters are part of this world warmed my heart, AND it has one of the most beautifully written sex scenes!
December 10, 2017
This OzYA is definitely not an action thriller or a mile-a-minute page-turner or a huge crisis-climax plot followed by magically tied-up loose ends. You'll need to look elsewhere for that.
What it is is a grounded, meandering exploration of what it might be like to not achieve all the amazing stuff you were expected to achieve. To run away from your fancy school scholarship back to your tiny country town, to have no idea what you want to do next, to have no motivation to do well at your Year 12 exams.
The bit-by-bit way that the main character starts to figure out clues to what what she might want to eventually do felt authentic (though as I reader I seemed to pick up these clues faster than she does), as did her unrealistic expectations (travel the world? With what money?) Her relationship with her baby sister is adorable, and there's also a touch of romance - I was left with no real idea of why they got together, but maybe that was partly the point?
So many books are about teenagers discovering that they are destined for amazing things. This is the opposite. You might find that dull, or your might find it refreshing.
What it is is a grounded, meandering exploration of what it might be like to not achieve all the amazing stuff you were expected to achieve. To run away from your fancy school scholarship back to your tiny country town, to have no idea what you want to do next, to have no motivation to do well at your Year 12 exams.
The bit-by-bit way that the main character starts to figure out clues to what what she might want to eventually do felt authentic (though as I reader I seemed to pick up these clues faster than she does), as did her unrealistic expectations (travel the world? With what money?) Her relationship with her baby sister is adorable, and there's also a touch of romance - I was left with no real idea of why they got together, but maybe that was partly the point?
So many books are about teenagers discovering that they are destined for amazing things. This is the opposite. You might find that dull, or your might find it refreshing.
March 4, 2018
I think my fav type of book is one which forgets the plot.
Circling the town in lazy loops. A horse in the house. Wishing for something.
A year in the life of not quite sure, and never finding any kind of answer.
"We're sitting there on the platform, not waiting for a train but the possibility of a train. Something to get us from here to there, wherever that might be."
Circling the town in lazy loops. A horse in the house. Wishing for something.
A year in the life of not quite sure, and never finding any kind of answer.
October 11, 2017
A wonderful story, and definitely one I could have done with in year twelve!
Review to come!
[insert skeleton emoji of all my fans eagerly awaiting said review]
Review to come!
[insert skeleton emoji of all my fans eagerly awaiting said review]
May 28, 2021
May 2021: I am no longer the person who craved this book, but I still love the story it tells about home. womnderful to let books change as you do.
27/12/2018
I had the sudden urge to reread this and I find it as compelling as ever. I really relate to Addy finding that she doesn't quite know what she wants until it's upon her. I also love what a big part books are of the narrative, and lying on a sunny carpet eating Granny Smiths has many analogous situations to my life. I adore this story and all that it reminds me of.
4/11/2017OH LOOK IT’S MY NEW FAVOURITE BOOK. And it’s the only contemporary on my favourite books list. You know how sometimes you read a book at exactly the right time? That was this book for me.
So right now I’m at a stage in my life where I’ve finished school (though to be fair I graduated with pretty good grades first) and I’m heading to university….but that also involves moving country. And having horrifying amounts of free time. And it just feels like a big change and I want to be calm but at the same time I don’t know where I belong and where I’m heading and I feel a lot of uncertainty. On the surface, I’m not that similar to Addie. She’s Australian, I’m Indian-New Zealandish. She left school, I finished before I left. I’m pretty certain that I want to go to university...and she is too, but it’s going to take a while for her to reach that stage. But the lovely thing about characters as well written as she is is that you don’t need to look the same to share something. As I review this book I’m going to talk about all the ways that I felt that it really fit with who I am right now.
One of the big ideas in Untidy Towns is belonging, and all its layers: to a place, with other people, within your family. Addie has been away from her place and her family, and one of the reasons she runs away is that she never really belongs in the city. But belonging takes time and energy. Addie knows she belongs with her family, and she responds to that by spending time with her (adorable) little sister (and reminded me to enjoy my younger sister more); reading her mother’s book recommendations (sharing books with your mother is so fun! I need to do it more!); and accepting a position at her local historical society. Being at the society teaches her more about her town and gives her a reason to interact with people she wouldn’t have seen otherwise; for example, there’s this sweet scene where she visits an old man and he teaches her to make scones and they talk about the past. And then there’s the people aspect of belonging. Addie has largely let her friendships slide, so she has to find a space for herself there too, which is hard and painful. I’ve been thinking a lot about friendships lately--what with leaving school and moving to a place where I don’t know very many people, it’s something I’ve worried about, so watching Addie do it was very reassuring. I also volunteered for a month in my local historical centre (and with any luck I’ll do some more things with them too) which had a lot of similarities to Addie’s--dusty wooden shelves, few visitors, lots of help in digitisation and websites needed, all sorts of fascinating bits of history, a colonial skew. In general, the idea that belonging is something you need to fight for really resonated with me.
The word ‘untidy’ is in the title of this book, and O’Donnell incorporates the messy bits of life into her story in a way that really resonated with me. Addie does the dishes. She learns to cook. She feels useless. She reads for hours. She ignores people. She does things she knows that she will regret. She isn’t as productive as she wants to be, and, instead, questions the notion of productivity and its pervasion in society (it me). She goes camping and it rains and the tent drips. She gets stung by the electric fence (again, me. But it’s all me. That’s what made this book so perfect.). She rides her bike places, and doesn’t always say the right thing, and has regrets and, most of all, isn’t entirely sure what she needs to do to be happy. These untidy spaces give the narrative--and, more importantly, the characters--breath, making the book exquisitely alive.
I think it would be easy to call this book slow. But it’s not the sort of book which rests heavily on the tight corners of a plot. Instead, O’Donnell has created an incredibly expansive world within the nuanced relationships of her characters. Again and again, we are reminded that Addie doesn’t know what she wants. This is a simple enough statement, but somewhat revolutionary in a YA book. In YA books, especially American ones, when a character isn’t driven towards a very specific goal (e.g. prestigious degree at prestigious university), then the resolution of the book is when they find a goal. This isn’t the case in Untidy Towns. Instead, Addie learns by the end of the story to be okay with the uncertainty of what she wants, and the certainty that it will change, and she will too. I finished this book with the absolute knowledge that Addie would not be the same person in the future, and she would want different things in the future, but that she had the confidence in herself and others to deal with whatever came. That’s unusual in a YA book, but such a powerful, useful narrative. My life isn’t a YA book. I’m doing the best I can with how well I know myself and how well I know the world, but I don’t know if the choices I’m making now are going to be the right choices for my future self and future world; but here I am, like Addie, acknowledging that (and reading lots of books in the meantime.) In Untidy towns, the future deserves thought and reflection, but it’s informed by knowledge of history, and knowledge that there’s a lot to what is important beyond grades.
Above all, Untidy Towns is a book about possibility within and without of yourself. It renders life in a beautiful way, realistic, bright and messy and glorious. It resonated with me in a thousand ways; made me cry four times; filled me with hope and joy and certainty in my own uncertainty. Belonging is something you have to fight for, but I found it in this book.
27/12/2018
I had the sudden urge to reread this and I find it as compelling as ever. I really relate to Addy finding that she doesn't quite know what she wants until it's upon her. I also love what a big part books are of the narrative, and lying on a sunny carpet eating Granny Smiths has many analogous situations to my life. I adore this story and all that it reminds me of.
4/11/2017OH LOOK IT’S MY NEW FAVOURITE BOOK. And it’s the only contemporary on my favourite books list. You know how sometimes you read a book at exactly the right time? That was this book for me.
So right now I’m at a stage in my life where I’ve finished school (though to be fair I graduated with pretty good grades first) and I’m heading to university….but that also involves moving country. And having horrifying amounts of free time. And it just feels like a big change and I want to be calm but at the same time I don’t know where I belong and where I’m heading and I feel a lot of uncertainty. On the surface, I’m not that similar to Addie. She’s Australian, I’m Indian-New Zealandish. She left school, I finished before I left. I’m pretty certain that I want to go to university...and she is too, but it’s going to take a while for her to reach that stage. But the lovely thing about characters as well written as she is is that you don’t need to look the same to share something. As I review this book I’m going to talk about all the ways that I felt that it really fit with who I am right now.
One of the big ideas in Untidy Towns is belonging, and all its layers: to a place, with other people, within your family. Addie has been away from her place and her family, and one of the reasons she runs away is that she never really belongs in the city. But belonging takes time and energy. Addie knows she belongs with her family, and she responds to that by spending time with her (adorable) little sister (and reminded me to enjoy my younger sister more); reading her mother’s book recommendations (sharing books with your mother is so fun! I need to do it more!); and accepting a position at her local historical society. Being at the society teaches her more about her town and gives her a reason to interact with people she wouldn’t have seen otherwise; for example, there’s this sweet scene where she visits an old man and he teaches her to make scones and they talk about the past. And then there’s the people aspect of belonging. Addie has largely let her friendships slide, so she has to find a space for herself there too, which is hard and painful. I’ve been thinking a lot about friendships lately--what with leaving school and moving to a place where I don’t know very many people, it’s something I’ve worried about, so watching Addie do it was very reassuring. I also volunteered for a month in my local historical centre (and with any luck I’ll do some more things with them too) which had a lot of similarities to Addie’s--dusty wooden shelves, few visitors, lots of help in digitisation and websites needed, all sorts of fascinating bits of history, a colonial skew. In general, the idea that belonging is something you need to fight for really resonated with me.
The word ‘untidy’ is in the title of this book, and O’Donnell incorporates the messy bits of life into her story in a way that really resonated with me. Addie does the dishes. She learns to cook. She feels useless. She reads for hours. She ignores people. She does things she knows that she will regret. She isn’t as productive as she wants to be, and, instead, questions the notion of productivity and its pervasion in society (it me). She goes camping and it rains and the tent drips. She gets stung by the electric fence (again, me. But it’s all me. That’s what made this book so perfect.). She rides her bike places, and doesn’t always say the right thing, and has regrets and, most of all, isn’t entirely sure what she needs to do to be happy. These untidy spaces give the narrative--and, more importantly, the characters--breath, making the book exquisitely alive.
I think it would be easy to call this book slow. But it’s not the sort of book which rests heavily on the tight corners of a plot. Instead, O’Donnell has created an incredibly expansive world within the nuanced relationships of her characters. Again and again, we are reminded that Addie doesn’t know what she wants. This is a simple enough statement, but somewhat revolutionary in a YA book. In YA books, especially American ones, when a character isn’t driven towards a very specific goal (e.g. prestigious degree at prestigious university), then the resolution of the book is when they find a goal. This isn’t the case in Untidy Towns. Instead, Addie learns by the end of the story to be okay with the uncertainty of what she wants, and the certainty that it will change, and she will too. I finished this book with the absolute knowledge that Addie would not be the same person in the future, and she would want different things in the future, but that she had the confidence in herself and others to deal with whatever came. That’s unusual in a YA book, but such a powerful, useful narrative. My life isn’t a YA book. I’m doing the best I can with how well I know myself and how well I know the world, but I don’t know if the choices I’m making now are going to be the right choices for my future self and future world; but here I am, like Addie, acknowledging that (and reading lots of books in the meantime.) In Untidy towns, the future deserves thought and reflection, but it’s informed by knowledge of history, and knowledge that there’s a lot to what is important beyond grades.
Above all, Untidy Towns is a book about possibility within and without of yourself. It renders life in a beautiful way, realistic, bright and messy and glorious. It resonated with me in a thousand ways; made me cry four times; filled me with hope and joy and certainty in my own uncertainty. Belonging is something you have to fight for, but I found it in this book.
October 6, 2017
This book. <3 I will cry if I don't love this to bits!
Edit: OMG I was given a copy for review by UQP! I'm so so so excited! ^_^ I'll be reading this next, honestly, I am so ready, I hope I love it!!!
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3/5
Well that took way longer than expected. To be fair, I've been doing lots of tidying and assessments for my post-graduate certificate so I haven't been prioritising reading as much lately. But. This book was S.L.O.W. I was expecting some grand adventure or scheme, something, ANYTHING to happen, but it never really came and I can't help but feel a wee bit disappointed by it all.
Thank you, thank you, thank you to UQP and Sally for kindly sending me a copy of this book for review! Included with the book was a postcard - with a lovely message from Sally and a great quote from the book - and the book was WRAPPED UP IN NEWSPAPER! Not just any newspaper, it's made to look like an old newspaper from Emyvale, a small town in Victoria, Australia in which this book is set. My excitement levels were through-the-roof crazy high. I adored that cover SO much, it is gorgeous. The problem is that there aren't really that many bike adventures as I was expecting. Darn it, book cover deception! (Like that's ever happened before... *eye roll*)
Untidy Towns follows Adelaide, who ditches life at her prestigious private school in Melbourne and buys a train ticket back to small town Emyvale. Unable to deal with the pressures of year 12 and the education system where creativity is discouraged, Adelaide struggles with choosing what she wants to do with her life. She reluctantly accepts to finish year 12 by correspondence, and also finds herself working at the local historical museum with her grandfather. As she fits back into her old life in Emyvale, Adelaide re-connects with old friends and she may even be falling in love . . .
I loved the first chapter, I thought it was punchy and very exciting and it urges you to read on. 'I'd accidentally fled.' I know that as a teenager I used to dream of getting away from it all, do something spontaneous and crazy and end up in the middle of nowhere. Adelaide sort of did that, but that middle-of-nowhere is her hometown. So my initial impression of her was that she was smart, a bit impulsive and pretty cool. Bold.
[Full review will be available at a later date.]
Edit: OMG I was given a copy for review by UQP! I'm so so so excited! ^_^ I'll be reading this next, honestly, I am so ready, I hope I love it!!!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
3/5
Well that took way longer than expected. To be fair, I've been doing lots of tidying and assessments for my post-graduate certificate so I haven't been prioritising reading as much lately. But. This book was S.L.O.W. I was expecting some grand adventure or scheme, something, ANYTHING to happen, but it never really came and I can't help but feel a wee bit disappointed by it all.
Thank you, thank you, thank you to UQP and Sally for kindly sending me a copy of this book for review! Included with the book was a postcard - with a lovely message from Sally and a great quote from the book - and the book was WRAPPED UP IN NEWSPAPER! Not just any newspaper, it's made to look like an old newspaper from Emyvale, a small town in Victoria, Australia in which this book is set. My excitement levels were through-the-roof crazy high. I adored that cover SO much, it is gorgeous. The problem is that there aren't really that many bike adventures as I was expecting. Darn it, book cover deception! (Like that's ever happened before... *eye roll*)
Untidy Towns follows Adelaide, who ditches life at her prestigious private school in Melbourne and buys a train ticket back to small town Emyvale. Unable to deal with the pressures of year 12 and the education system where creativity is discouraged, Adelaide struggles with choosing what she wants to do with her life. She reluctantly accepts to finish year 12 by correspondence, and also finds herself working at the local historical museum with her grandfather. As she fits back into her old life in Emyvale, Adelaide re-connects with old friends and she may even be falling in love . . .
I loved the first chapter, I thought it was punchy and very exciting and it urges you to read on. 'I'd accidentally fled.' I know that as a teenager I used to dream of getting away from it all, do something spontaneous and crazy and end up in the middle of nowhere. Adelaide sort of did that, but that middle-of-nowhere is her hometown. So my initial impression of her was that she was smart, a bit impulsive and pretty cool. Bold.
[Full review will be available at a later date.]
March 17, 2018
Slow-paced meandering story, like the rural roads described within. Likeable main character charting a different future - not the driven uni-or-job future. Thoughtful representation of country life and a teenager who resists the status quo of a perfectly mapped out life.
December 26, 2017
A charming, quiet contemporary about losing your way and finding your way home.
October 21, 2017
I hadn’t heard of this book before it popped up on my doorstep but I was immediately intrigued. It arrived packaged so beautifully, wrapped in paper that looked like the old Melbourne to Warrnambool train timetable, with a postcard, a little button and a page marker that looked like a V-line ticket before Myki became a thing. For pretty much the entire time I’ve lived in Victoria I’ve also lived on the Warrnambool line although I’m close to Melbourne so really it’s another line by the time it gets to me. But for about six months my husband caught the train to and from Warrnambool twice a week and his family also live in Colac, which is on that line so it’s one of those areas that I’m pretty familiar with.
Adelaide is 17 and only has something like 8 months of school to go when she realises that she can’t do it anymore. She walks out of her Melbourne boarding school and gets on a train bound for home. She seems paralysed, suddenly having a crisis of confidence with the weight of expectation. All her life she was referred to as the smart one who would go far, there was talk of medicine and law and all of a sudden she seemed to realise that she didn’t know anymore what she wanted. She just knew that she couldn’t stay at the school a moment longer, nor did she want to enroll at the local high school. It’s unacceptable that she do nothing so her grandfather negotiates a job for her at the local historical society of her small town.
With so much expectation placed on teens sitting their year 12 exams, it feels authentic to read about a teen who chooses not to do it that traditional way anymore, to give herself some time to breathe and decide what she really wants, rather than applying for what people expect and marking time doing a degree that she doesn’t want to do. I admired her for that, because I don’t think it’s the easy option that some people might assume, especially when you return from a fancy Melbourne boarding school. So many people would be asking that dreaded question about “what do you want to be” or “what are you doing when you finish school” and at 17, half the time you don’t know. You don’t know what you want to do for the rest of your life, if what you’re passionate about now will be the same thing you’ll be passionate about at 25, 45, 65. Sometimes, like Addie, you just can’t decide at all what it is that you want to do and she doesn’t seem to want to waste time when she doesn’t know. To be honest I could say so much about the school system and the pressure of deciding what you want to do and competing with the entire state for the chance to be able to do it. So much riding on a score.
I really enjoyed reading a YA novel in a small town setting. I’ve read so many centred around the cities of Melbourne and Sydney that it was really nice to be in a tiny town with a very different feel, atmosphere wise. There’s a university in Warrnambool that seems within commuting distance but for many, furthering their education requires moving to Melbourne, so do many job prospects other than continuing on the family farm. Addie has to address the fact that she kind of distanced herself from her old friends when she moved to Melbourne to go to school but it isn’t long before she slips back into a group to socialise with, a group that includes a boy named Jarrod.
And so there is a romance in this book and it’s funny and sweet and really awkwardly authentic. The two of them are cute together but both of them make mistakes and have to negotiate getting to know each other in this tiny town with parents and grandparents and family reputations. I liked how present Addie’s family were. Her mum was great – definitely far more laid back than my parents would’ve been if I’d told them I was jacking in school in year 12 with so little time to go! But Addie’s mother, whilst being remarkably accepting, also manages to get Addie to agree to what she wants as well in a way that doesn’t involve drama. I also really liked Addie’s evolving attitude towards the historical society throughout the book, as well as her role and how she views the people that give their time to it. This book reminded me that adults can be very present in a YA novel and have a wonderful positive impact on the younger characters.
I think this is a beautifully written book. It beautifully showcases life in a small town for teenagers but I really enjoyed the relationship aspect of the book – family, friendship and romantic. All are wonderfully done and this book definitely left me wanting more from Kate O’Donnell.
**Copy received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Adelaide is 17 and only has something like 8 months of school to go when she realises that she can’t do it anymore. She walks out of her Melbourne boarding school and gets on a train bound for home. She seems paralysed, suddenly having a crisis of confidence with the weight of expectation. All her life she was referred to as the smart one who would go far, there was talk of medicine and law and all of a sudden she seemed to realise that she didn’t know anymore what she wanted. She just knew that she couldn’t stay at the school a moment longer, nor did she want to enroll at the local high school. It’s unacceptable that she do nothing so her grandfather negotiates a job for her at the local historical society of her small town.
With so much expectation placed on teens sitting their year 12 exams, it feels authentic to read about a teen who chooses not to do it that traditional way anymore, to give herself some time to breathe and decide what she really wants, rather than applying for what people expect and marking time doing a degree that she doesn’t want to do. I admired her for that, because I don’t think it’s the easy option that some people might assume, especially when you return from a fancy Melbourne boarding school. So many people would be asking that dreaded question about “what do you want to be” or “what are you doing when you finish school” and at 17, half the time you don’t know. You don’t know what you want to do for the rest of your life, if what you’re passionate about now will be the same thing you’ll be passionate about at 25, 45, 65. Sometimes, like Addie, you just can’t decide at all what it is that you want to do and she doesn’t seem to want to waste time when she doesn’t know. To be honest I could say so much about the school system and the pressure of deciding what you want to do and competing with the entire state for the chance to be able to do it. So much riding on a score.
I really enjoyed reading a YA novel in a small town setting. I’ve read so many centred around the cities of Melbourne and Sydney that it was really nice to be in a tiny town with a very different feel, atmosphere wise. There’s a university in Warrnambool that seems within commuting distance but for many, furthering their education requires moving to Melbourne, so do many job prospects other than continuing on the family farm. Addie has to address the fact that she kind of distanced herself from her old friends when she moved to Melbourne to go to school but it isn’t long before she slips back into a group to socialise with, a group that includes a boy named Jarrod.
And so there is a romance in this book and it’s funny and sweet and really awkwardly authentic. The two of them are cute together but both of them make mistakes and have to negotiate getting to know each other in this tiny town with parents and grandparents and family reputations. I liked how present Addie’s family were. Her mum was great – definitely far more laid back than my parents would’ve been if I’d told them I was jacking in school in year 12 with so little time to go! But Addie’s mother, whilst being remarkably accepting, also manages to get Addie to agree to what she wants as well in a way that doesn’t involve drama. I also really liked Addie’s evolving attitude towards the historical society throughout the book, as well as her role and how she views the people that give their time to it. This book reminded me that adults can be very present in a YA novel and have a wonderful positive impact on the younger characters.
I think this is a beautifully written book. It beautifully showcases life in a small town for teenagers but I really enjoyed the relationship aspect of the book – family, friendship and romantic. All are wonderfully done and this book definitely left me wanting more from Kate O’Donnell.
**Copy received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review
November 20, 2017
A fun, fresh voice in #loveozya
April 28, 2018
Untidy Towns (UQP 2017) is the debut YA novel by author Kate O'Donnell. Like all good stories for young adults, the narrative shares the adolescent angst and emotional upheaval of that liminal time between finishing high school and finding your way in the wider world, of searching for your own sense of self and identity, and of navigating relationships – the complicated bonds of family, the uncertainty and tentativeness of young love, and the fickleness and loyalties of friendship. What is special about this book is 17-year-old Addie’s voice: bright, witty and quirky, she immediately draws the reader into her interior world and we feel like one of her mates.
The book opens with Addie running away from her posh boarding school – even she is not entirely sure why, but it has something to do with expectations and responsibilities – and returning to her small home town of Emyvale. She takes refuge with her mum and much younger sister, Clover, and her grandparents, while she tries to decide what to do next. In the meantime, she takes a job helping out at the local Emyvale Historical Society and slowly begins to reintroduce herself to the friends and townspeople with whom she has lost contact over recent years. As the year marches on, and Addie struggles with her choices about who and what she wants to become, she gains a new understanding of her hometown, and a recognition of what is important.
I love the humour in this book, and I particularly love Addie’s distinctive voice. While the obstacles she faces are universal, her decisions – and the way things work out – are definitely not predictable. She is quite a character, and we feel like we are travelling with her on her journey of discovery. Like all good YA novels, this story is just as relatable to adults; we were all once teenagers, and this story submerges us back into that time as if it was yesterday.
The book opens with Addie running away from her posh boarding school – even she is not entirely sure why, but it has something to do with expectations and responsibilities – and returning to her small home town of Emyvale. She takes refuge with her mum and much younger sister, Clover, and her grandparents, while she tries to decide what to do next. In the meantime, she takes a job helping out at the local Emyvale Historical Society and slowly begins to reintroduce herself to the friends and townspeople with whom she has lost contact over recent years. As the year marches on, and Addie struggles with her choices about who and what she wants to become, she gains a new understanding of her hometown, and a recognition of what is important.
I love the humour in this book, and I particularly love Addie’s distinctive voice. While the obstacles she faces are universal, her decisions – and the way things work out – are definitely not predictable. She is quite a character, and we feel like we are travelling with her on her journey of discovery. Like all good YA novels, this story is just as relatable to adults; we were all once teenagers, and this story submerges us back into that time as if it was yesterday.
October 30, 2017
Filled to the brim with character and love, I found myself welling up at moments that probably hadn’t called for such a reaction and having to hold the book to my body as I took a breather.
Beautiful prose, loveable characters, relatable content, I was filled with nostalgia for a time I didn’t think I cared about, and a place I’ve never known. This is the kind of book I want to write.
Beautiful prose, loveable characters, relatable content, I was filled with nostalgia for a time I didn’t think I cared about, and a place I’ve never known. This is the kind of book I want to write.
December 1, 2017
This book so perfectly captures that 'caught-in-between' feeling and the overwhelming sense of infinite possibility that greets us on the cusp of adulthood. Love, love, LOVED it!
October 31, 2017
Trigger warnings: mental health. I think that's all?
2.5 stars.
I'd heard really good things about this book, so when we got a copy in at work, I picked it up immediately. And there were definitely elements about it that I really liked. The family dynamic was fabulous. The voice was great and felt authentically teenaged. The slightly claustrophobic feeling of an Australian small town was well done.
But.
This basically doesn't have a plot. Like, it's about a teenage girl who drops out of high school and moves home to her small country town in rural Victoria. That happens in the first two chapters. The rest of the book is literally just her spending the rest of the year in the aforementioned small country town.
She goes to work at the historical society with her grandfather. She gives her little sister a bath. She tells her mum she's doing more school work than she is. She hangs out with a boy. She texts her best friend in Melbourne. Rinse and repeat for 300 pages.
There's no crisis. There's no tension. There's no conflict. It just plods along from beginning to end.
So it's not a bad book. But it's also not a particularly interesting book, despite that gorgeous cover. Womp.
2.5 stars.
I'd heard really good things about this book, so when we got a copy in at work, I picked it up immediately. And there were definitely elements about it that I really liked. The family dynamic was fabulous. The voice was great and felt authentically teenaged. The slightly claustrophobic feeling of an Australian small town was well done.
But.
This basically doesn't have a plot. Like, it's about a teenage girl who drops out of high school and moves home to her small country town in rural Victoria. That happens in the first two chapters. The rest of the book is literally just her spending the rest of the year in the aforementioned small country town.
She goes to work at the historical society with her grandfather. She gives her little sister a bath. She tells her mum she's doing more school work than she is. She hangs out with a boy. She texts her best friend in Melbourne. Rinse and repeat for 300 pages.
There's no crisis. There's no tension. There's no conflict. It just plods along from beginning to end.
So it's not a bad book. But it's also not a particularly interesting book, despite that gorgeous cover. Womp.
April 2, 2018
A character-driven book that leaves you feeling charmed and hopeful. O’Donnell interweaves the themes of first love and friendship in a unique way. And how many of us have felt pushed into doing something just because it’s ‘the best thing for you to do for your future’. Delightful and endearing. Glad I finally made time to read it.
May 27, 2018
Quite an enjoyable book to read. Very comfy writing style. Loved the characters and the discussion generated by the book.
There is a lot of pressure put on students during their last years of schooling. Seventeen-year-old Adelaide has high expectations put on her from friends, family and her boarding school. When you want something how do you go about to get it? Thought provoking read.
There is a lot of pressure put on students during their last years of schooling. Seventeen-year-old Adelaide has high expectations put on her from friends, family and her boarding school. When you want something how do you go about to get it? Thought provoking read.
October 8, 2019
A slow burn coming-of-age novel that focuses on an often left-out aspect of YA: not KNOWING what you want to do with your future (I feel like this is a really common thing for teenagers, but authors are constantly told that characters have to have a goal to be interesting). I found pretty much all of the characters likeable and I always enjoy a small town setting. In the end I did feel it was a little too slow, and I wanted Addie to change more over the course of the book, develop a passion or learn something, but she seemed more or less the same by the end. Still, it was pleasant and relaxing and good to see a teenager who doesn't have it all together but isn't totally falling apart either.
August 31, 2018
This was an enjoyable read. I wanted to read this because my two children are currently in years 11 & 12 and grappling with decisions relating to their future. It’s not an easy time if you don’t know where you want to head. Reading this could definitely help, if only to reassure them that they are not alone with their stresses and fears. The characters are believable and the issues they are dealing with are real. The mother’s reactions to things are admirable (I was paying close attention to her responses!) This was a good reminder of the things our teenagers are dealing with and that there is more than one way to reach a goal.
October 10, 2017
What I liked about this book is that it is set in the real world, in country Victoria. It is about a young girl who does well and escapes from her small country town. It is about a young girl who struggles at her boarding school due to all the pressure that is placed on her to succeed so she runs away, straight back to the country town she escaped from.
I think that the author has gotten in to that mindset of today's kids who are completing Year 12 and looks at the pressures that they are under, how they cope (or not cope) with it and how they choose to define themselves and their futures.
Adelaide runs home, but she sees home through new eyes. This time she is able to appreciate her small country town for what it is, for how tightknit a community it is. Adelaide feels pressure, even upon her return to be successful, to decide her future. This is not something that she is mentally capable of right now. Her family come to a compromise and give her some direction and some time to work out what she wants. This is about a 17 year old girl working out who she is and where she wants her life to go, as well as discovering her place within her wider community. It is about opening your eyes and seeing what is around you, instead of being so blinded by one future that you fail to see another.
The book is well written and spaced over 9 months. There are no major dramas that need to be solved, no slaves or alien races to defeat...it is just a good old traditional novel about regular girl going through her regular life. This is something that most teenage girls can relate to.
I think that the author has gotten in to that mindset of today's kids who are completing Year 12 and looks at the pressures that they are under, how they cope (or not cope) with it and how they choose to define themselves and their futures.
Adelaide runs home, but she sees home through new eyes. This time she is able to appreciate her small country town for what it is, for how tightknit a community it is. Adelaide feels pressure, even upon her return to be successful, to decide her future. This is not something that she is mentally capable of right now. Her family come to a compromise and give her some direction and some time to work out what she wants. This is about a 17 year old girl working out who she is and where she wants her life to go, as well as discovering her place within her wider community. It is about opening your eyes and seeing what is around you, instead of being so blinded by one future that you fail to see another.
The book is well written and spaced over 9 months. There are no major dramas that need to be solved, no slaves or alien races to defeat...it is just a good old traditional novel about regular girl going through her regular life. This is something that most teenage girls can relate to.
October 24, 2017
Classic YA in the best possible way. These characters are full of heart and the writing is so careful, loving and warm. I liked all the references to literature and music, too. This charming novel captures the confusion of being on the precipice of adulthood perfectly. I couldn’t put it down.
January 8, 2024
a book i resonated (🤨) with very much! prose is so lovely and clever especially the chapters toward the end which had such a kilig writing style, and the natural progression of the story was very appreciated! simply exemplary overall.
(+ i'm glad i reread it on a plane in the summer holidays after the hsc :D)
(+ i'm glad i reread it on a plane in the summer holidays after the hsc :D)
May 3, 2018
This was a cute book... easy to read I definitely enjoyed it.
June 3, 2021
Really liked the MC and the writing style but something was just missing. Needed more..something. Follow for more quality, in depth reviews.
May 25, 2018
3.5 Stars because small town stories set in Australia are my kinda books
April 17, 2018
I am obsessed with this book!
I grew up in country Victoria, and SURPRISE it turns out I really connect with contemporary YA with rural Aussie setting - who would have guessed ha
In this one I thought that the characters and events felt super realistic, and I LOVED the mum (like, seriously, I want to be like that mum!)
I grew up in country Victoria, and SURPRISE it turns out I really connect with contemporary YA with rural Aussie setting - who would have guessed ha
In this one I thought that the characters and events felt super realistic, and I LOVED the mum (like, seriously, I want to be like that mum!)
October 11, 2017
I loved this book! Such a sweet story of getting a little lost on the way to one's future. Adelaide is trying to find her way through final year of school (after dropping out then continuing by correspondence) and figure out what to do with her life. An awesome cast of supporting characters stick by her along the way, every one of them beautifully realised.
A must read Aus YA.
A must read Aus YA.
December 5, 2017
This book was so so sweet. I want to call it a coming-of-age but it was more of a coming-to-a-realisation or a coming-to-an-undoing kind of book.
Adelaide Longley has always been told she’s the smartest kid in town. Treated as the golden child of her rural Victorian hometown, she is on her way to achieving top exam scores, getting into law or politics at Melbourne and fulfilling every expectation thrust upon her.
That is until she wakes up one morning and walks straight out of her fancy shmancy city boarding school and hops on the V line back to her small dusty hometown.
This novel dealt with what happens when the child genius is no longer a child, and, well no longer a genius. When the expectation are piled impossibly high that they begin to feel suffocating, and how so much can all add up to a big ol feeling of nothing. Nothing matters, I feel nothing, I know nothing, what’s the point?
Anyone who’s drowned in school induced stress and conformity will get it.
The dusty town of Emyvale was almost its own character. Long dirt roads, a single bakery, a caravan park, the atmosphere was hazy, languid and free. As for the cast, I loved that Adelaide’s family was such an extremely positive and supportive force, her mum was awesome and capable and her little sister added a lovely bit of comedy and cuteness. Reconnecting with her old friends nice to watch unfold, and the slice of romance was just important enough. There was no insta love or dramatic displays of affection, Jarrod and Adelaide were refreshingly real and adorably awkward in their romance – as teenagers are.
I always forget how good it feels to read aussie books. It adds a sense of closeness that leaves me feeling warm and fuzzy and proud of my home. it doesn’t get more Melbourne than complaining about myki’s, mentions of the dead eyed commuters at flinders st, Op shopping on Bridge rd and there was even a mention of, in my honest opinion, the worst train line- Craigieburn!
This isn’t a big fantastical quest or a dramatic harrowing tale, it’s simply a story of how it feels to be young- unsure of everything and overwhelmed by the possibilities of the world. Perfect for fans of Cath Crowley or John Marsden -
a is a fairly easy read that I smashed out in a day.
Adelaide Longley has always been told she’s the smartest kid in town. Treated as the golden child of her rural Victorian hometown, she is on her way to achieving top exam scores, getting into law or politics at Melbourne and fulfilling every expectation thrust upon her.
That is until she wakes up one morning and walks straight out of her fancy shmancy city boarding school and hops on the V line back to her small dusty hometown.
This novel dealt with what happens when the child genius is no longer a child, and, well no longer a genius. When the expectation are piled impossibly high that they begin to feel suffocating, and how so much can all add up to a big ol feeling of nothing. Nothing matters, I feel nothing, I know nothing, what’s the point?
Anyone who’s drowned in school induced stress and conformity will get it.
The dusty town of Emyvale was almost its own character. Long dirt roads, a single bakery, a caravan park, the atmosphere was hazy, languid and free. As for the cast, I loved that Adelaide’s family was such an extremely positive and supportive force, her mum was awesome and capable and her little sister added a lovely bit of comedy and cuteness. Reconnecting with her old friends nice to watch unfold, and the slice of romance was just important enough. There was no insta love or dramatic displays of affection, Jarrod and Adelaide were refreshingly real and adorably awkward in their romance – as teenagers are.
I always forget how good it feels to read aussie books. It adds a sense of closeness that leaves me feeling warm and fuzzy and proud of my home. it doesn’t get more Melbourne than complaining about myki’s, mentions of the dead eyed commuters at flinders st, Op shopping on Bridge rd and there was even a mention of, in my honest opinion, the worst train line- Craigieburn!
This isn’t a big fantastical quest or a dramatic harrowing tale, it’s simply a story of how it feels to be young- unsure of everything and overwhelmed by the possibilities of the world. Perfect for fans of Cath Crowley or John Marsden -
a is a fairly easy read that I smashed out in a day.
November 8, 2017
This was inoffensive, but didn't entirely capture my attention, either. I also didn't feel that the story took me - or Adelaide - anywhere. By the end of the book, the only thing she'd gained was a boyfriend. I understand that she's only 17 and has her whole life ahead of her, that anything could happen (and I imagine this was part of the author's message), but it just feel like nothing happened or changed... Okay, but not amazing.
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