The Gifted, the Talented and Me

by William Sutcliffe

Laugh-out-loud funny and instantly recognisable - not since The Inbetweeners has a coming of age story been so irreverent and relatable.

Fifteen-year-old Sam isn't special. He's not a famous vlogger, he's never gone viral, and he doesn't want to be the Next Big Thing. What he likes most is chatting to his friends and having a bit of a kick about.

None of which was a problem until Dad got rich and Mum made the whole family move to London. Now Sam is being made to go to the North London Academy for the Gifted and Talented, where every student is too busy planning Hollywood domination or starting alt-metal psychedelica crossover bands or making clothes out of bathmats to give someone as normal as him the time of day. Can Sam navigate his way through the weirdness and find a way to be himself?

A brilliant modern satire about fitting in, falling out and staying true to your own averageness.

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Teen, Humor, Fiction, Young Adult Contemporary, Realistic Fiction

256 pages, Paperback

Published March 7, 2019

About the author

William Sutcliffe was born in 1971 in London. He is the author of eight novels, New Boy, Are You Experienced?, The Love Hexagon, Bad Influence, Whatever Makes You Happy, The Wall, Concentr8 and We See Everything, which have been translated into twenty-six languages.

The Wall was shortlisted for the 2014 CILIP Carnegie Medal. Are You Experienced? has been reissued on the prestigious Penguin Essentials list.

He has also written a series of books for children: Circus of Thieves and the Raffle of Doom, Circus of Thieves on the Rampage and Circus of Thieves and the Comeback Caper.

He lives in Edinburgh with his wife, three children, two cats and a tortoise.

Reviews

[Claude's Bookzone]

DNF 45%

Well.

There are some quite funny moments in this book and I would have liked it, however, there was a problematic subplot which I think remained unchallenged. The main character's brother joins a band thats "vibe" is LGBTQIA. So in order to stay in the band he says he is gay, despite being straight. He also makes comments about how being gay makes girls more interested in him and they invite him into their homes and bedrooms etc. That's very problematic on a few levels. It really is a shame because it was so nice to have a funny, high school story about an unremarkable teen making his way through life. I don't think I'll be able to recommend this to anyone.

[Stacey | prettybooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

Note: I read this for the YA Book Prize 2020 (I'm one of the judges, hooray!).

[Bridget · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh thank goodness, a YA book that isn't full of angst and misery!

This is a kind, good hearted, bouncy treat, our leading man is a little bit troubled by the fact that he has been moved from his old life and friends to a new life in the big city. Sam misses his old life and even his old school, he has been enrolled in a school which is specifically designed to bring out the creative side of it's students, to cater to the artistic and dramatic side of them. Sam's siblings are delighted, they are able to fit right in, Sam is alone and isolated, hopelessly in lust with a gorgeous girl who is not remotely interested in him, nobody plays football and he is isolated and lonely. Not to mention his mum who has also decided to unleash her latent creativity. Goodnatured Sam deals with all this, but it isn't easy. He has to negotiate a lot on the way to his happy ending but the way he gets there is awesome. And along the way of course, Sam is going to find out that he too is as creative as the rest of the family.

I really like William Sutcliffe's books, they are just the right size, they are engaging, his characters speak to each other like people in the real world would, he is a great writer for teens. Highly recommended for teenagers, just the right amount of bad behaviour and risk taking to be safe for even the most conservative. I really liked this book.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me access to this great book.

[auteaandtales · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm. Well. This started off really well. It was funny, interesting and I was hooked about what was going to happen. However, as the book continued, there were just...a lot of problematic elements. An example is Queerbaiting. As a queer person myself, I felt so much excitement when Ethan said he was bisexual and then for that to just be taken away really sucked. The mother was super invasive to her kids' privacy, and never actually apolagized for posting their personal info on a blog.

Saying that, it was an enjoyable read. I thought Sam was hilarious, and it sucked that nobody (including his own family) took that for granted. He's a wonderful kid. I think other kids like him would really enjoy this but, being a non-binary 22 year old adult, it did have a different affect on me and I am taking that into account.

[Dilip Chauhan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Bloomsbury publishing for sending this beautiful book!

The Gifted, The Talanted and Me.

Ratings.
Plot and story - 3.5 star
Narration - 3.5 Star
Pace of the book - 3.5 star

Review.

After long time I have read an YA book. And I am happy that I read this one. Book tells us the story of Sam who is just an normal average teen boy of 15 years old. His dad made some big hit and they become rich, his family moves to London. His mom decides that her kids have to move towards new type of education system where they can tap the hidden talents and gifts.
While the other two kids Ethan who is 17 years old ( tanated guitarist) and Freya 7 years old (gifted painter) finds new ways to improve what they love. Sam is dumbstruck as he don't have any thing spacial and don't even want to be.
All three kids joins North London Academy for the Gifted and Talented. where other tow kids moves ahead and makes an amazing social life in school, Sam is left alone and day by day he feels that he is becoming invisible and unwanted.
His Mom tires best to support him and lift his spirit but nothing works, but somehow incedents takes turns after turns and Sam finds ray of hope that may be he don't have to change at all may be he is enough the way he is. All he need to do is channelise his energy in right direction.
This book talks about so many things, how now days parents expects too much from children, how peer pressure affects kids, it also talks about bullying, not getting fit in the lot and pressure of it. All that in a funny and simple language.
The book is fats easy and really funny. The language is so easy that teenagers can read it easily.
I would recommend the book not Only to the teenagers but also the parents who have teenager kids.

[Rosanna Threakall · Rating 1 out of 5]

Problematic. Queerbaiting to manipulate girls. DNF.

[Adelyne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazingly written, accessible and relatable account that made me laugh in parts and cry in others. Full review to follow.

ETA My reviews for YA books often begin with something along the lines of “I’m far older than the target audience for this book and hence…” but this one was completely different. Although written for a young adult audience, with the main characters in this age range, I found the story relatable even for someone way past the school years, possibly owing to the fact that the feeling of not fitting in is omnipresent and isn’t, at least for me, one that goes away with age.

It was so uplifting to follow Sam through his journey of finding himself, and he had such a lovely yet believable relationship with his brother: Close enough to support one another through the hardships of growing up, but with a certain degree of sibling dislike for one another. Although the “before the move” part of the story was not elaborated on much, it was so easy to feel from the “after the move” narrative how the role of the brothers had apparently been switched: Ethan struggled in Stevenage but found his feet quickly in London, whilst Sam didn’t adapt quite so well. For me this was a bit of a subtle reference to how some things that happen in life are simply down to luck – finding oneself in a situation in which they are slow to find their feet can have implications that manifest even very much later in time. I’m pleased for Sam that he eventually found his place, discovering that it is just as well to be the star of the show as a man-beast, and that not everyone needs to be Prince Charming in order to feel like they belong. That also comes with landing the so-called most popular girl in school, maybe she’s just not for every boy that comes along, and some would simply be happier dating the quiet girl with a wacky sense of fashion! .

Writing style was cute and witty, so overall this was an enjoyable read that I finished in just under a day. One particularly nice thing was that I could totally see these sorts of phrases coming from children/teenagers of that age, unlike certain books of this genre where the kids sound far too mature beyond the age that they are supposed to be. I also liked how the author created the characters of the three children to be so different from one another, but showed how at its core they suffered from similar sources of insecurity, albeit with their own separate ways of getting over them and finding their place in the world (well, school).

I laughed in places, cried in places, and could feel the realities of experiences from all members of the family mirrored in my own. This one will stay with me for awhile yet, and goes onto my books-to-keep shelf as a favourite. 5 stars.

[ThatBookGal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was enormously witty! It takes something specially to make me laugh out loud in public, and this achieved it, a whole bunch of times. I haven't read anything else by William Sutcliffe but he's obviously got a great sense of humour, and his writing is very easy to read. I felt a little sorry for Sam, as the middle child, who was clearly a little under appreciated by his family, but as a main character, he was the perfect YA narrator.

Sam's family are definitely the heroes of the novel. His father's complete indifference to everything, his mother's desperate desire to be accepted by her children, the exuberant little sister and the emotional older brother. I loved and laughed at them all. Of course some of their decisions made me cringe, particularly mum writing a blog about her teenagers, complete breach of privacy there. But if anything those cringey, awful decisions, just made everything seem a little more real.

The North London Academy for the Gifted and Talented sounds like my idea of hell, like Sam, I am perfectly comfortable with my ordinariness. Having said that, it is an excellent setting for the rest of Sam's story, with plenty of quirky characters to keep you entertained. Adrian Mole was one of my childhood favourites, and this has real Adrian vibes, I just know my teenage heart would have been content after reading Sam's hilarious antics.

*** Thanks to the publishers for my copy, in exchange for an honest review ***

[Liz Friend · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story: When’s Sam’s dad accidentally gets rich, he moves the family to a posh London neighborhood, where Sam and his siblings are enrolled at the North London Academy for the Gifted and Talented. It’s okay for Sam’s siblings: one’s into music, and the other’s an artist. Sam is just...normal. He used to be popular at his old school, but now he’s no one---or at least, not until a series of hormonal incidents leads him to audition for the school play, where he gets cast as Caliban in The Tempest. Sam finds himself changing from a nobody into a guy who has the guts to ask out the girl he likes, walk away from the gorgeous girl he thought he liked but really doesn’t, and even deal with the fallout when his mother joins his brother’s grunge band.

June Cleaver's ratings: Language PG-13; Violence PG; Sexual content PG-13; Nudity G; Substance abuse PG-13; Magic & the occult, G; GLBT content PG; adult themes PG; overall rating PG-13, but best for HS readers (see comments below).

Liz's comments: Sam is a funny, honest, wry narrator and this novel is filled with true laugh-out-loud moments. Everyone in his family grows in different ways, and Sam is finally able to realize that he’s okay with just being normal (as normal as anyone can be at age fifteen, anyway). Because of frequent conversations between Optimistic-, Pessimistic-, and Dick-Brain, and numerous references to boners and other dance-in-the-pants moments, the novel is a great fit for high-school libraries, but don't hand it to 6th graders, whatever the other reviews might say.

[Thamy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sam's family has just become rich, so they decide to move to London and enroll him and his siblings in a non-traditional school. While the other two seem to find their places very fast, Sam struggles with the school's progressist methodology and his very weird classmates.

2.5 rounded up to 3.

This really wasn't the book for me. Too many small jokes, that I did like in the beginning but tested my patience after ten percent of the read. Too pointless. Yes, I eventually understood it was a coming-of-age story and Sam does progress, but for more than half he kept regressing, testing even further my patience. But I finally noticed my big grudge was the main character, Sam is just unbearable. And even after he develops by the end, I still think he's not worth anyone's time.

Now, the story itself is okay and might have been even a four-star for me with a likable MC, and probably a little less joking around. You're just a normal kid and ends up at this super weird, artsy school, to make things worse your loner of a brother becomes popular, your little sister is having the time of her life... It's super relatable.

The one thing I loved was that, while Sam couldn't bother with anyone else but himself, the writer developed very well his mother's conflict, going from a hobby to the other without any emotional support whatsoever. To be honest, that family was borderline mean to her.

There's also some romance but it's very low-key and Sam is too much of a jerk to deserve her, but romance is romance and I still love it.

I recommend this to people who like their YA less about falling in love and more about living. Plus, while I thought the jokes were too much, I can imagine a lot of people will instead love them and since the author managed to keep up the rhythm the whole book, then you'll have a feast. It's also a quick and fun book, ideal for taking your mind off of stuff in real life.


Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know why I randomly chose this book at the library but I'm so glad I did.

This was so funny!

As a fully grown adult, I never thought I'd relate to a 15 year old boy so much.
Sam was a joy to read about, his internal thoughts were sarcastic and witty, and Sutcliffe definitely captures the essence of a teenage boy.
It's so painfully british and each character are unique and useful to the story. I lost count how many times I laughed, the dry, English humour was captured perfectly in this and I was living for it.
I also love that they're 'escaping Stevenage' for London because lol (sidenote: I live near Stevenage. Why is it always more enjoyable when you live near a book setting?)

If you want a funny, humbling and quintessential british story about family, first loves and identity, give this one a go. The summary is right, it did actually remind me of the Inbetweeners quite a few times, although I feel they had worse luck than Sam did.
So good!

[Karin]

After watching author William Sutcliffe talk about his book on the YA panel on the theme of "Finding Yourself", I was very excited to read it. I had never picked it up before, because neither the cover nor the blurb appealed to me.

Fifteen-year-old Sam, whose father suddenly becomes rich, has to move from Stevenage to London with his family and he changes from an ordinary school to the London Academy for Gifted and Talented. At first he doesn't fit in, but he makes friends when auditioning for a role in The Tempest. The book made me laugh out loud at times and I enjoyed the light-hearted humour. I didn't enjoy the portrayal of the mother as a menopausal woman who expresses her wish to be more like her husband. The father and children are bonding over making fun of the mother. There are enough books on the market where mothers are either evil, ridiculed or blamed, no need for another one.

[Ophelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first William Sutcliffe and will not be my last. Superb book for older middle grade. Funny that I actually laughed out loud but also very clever as the protagonist is a young teenage boy so the storylines about young love and coping with personal and family relationships are very well done.

[Ela's Welt der Bücher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dieses Buch kam im Vorschaupaket vom Verlag und ich habe beschlossen es zu lesen. Es war eine süße Geschichte aus der Sichtweise eines jungen Teenagers, der mit einer Veränderung im Leben umgehen muss, ein Umzug. Eine Schule voller talentierter Schüler und Sam selber kann gar nichts, aber auch er findet im Laufe des Buches etwas über ihn heraus was er nicht gedacht hatte. War schnell gelesen, aber auf jeden Fall gut für junge Menschen, die noch ihre Talente und Begabungen suchen. Ein Charakter, der nicht in allem gut ist und selbst noch herausfinden muss, was er gerne macht.

3,5 Sterne

[Dawn Woods · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sam is the middle child, so already at a disadvantage. Both his siblings have a talent for the arts, Sam has not - another disadvantage. When the family move houses and schools to a school for gifted and talented students, Sam fights the change as he absolutely knows he will not fit in. But as a child, he can't alter the course his parents have decided his life will take. He reluctantly and slowly comes around to changing what he is able to change.
This book has many extremely funny throw away lines. A family discussion around the dinner table had me crying with laughter as so much of it rang true. Even the unlikely scenarios of appearing on stage in speedoes and body paint were credible.
Young people will relate to at least one of these characters and the family dynamics. I would hope they would sympathise with Mum, who is also trying to 'find herself'. Apart from Dad, a shadowy character who lives life oblivious to what is going on around him - true of many Dads? Sam's younger sister who sails through the book picking up comments she is not supposed to and is happy doing her own thing, the writing focuses on the other three characters all trying to find their identity and path in life. So teenage life in a nutshell.

[Nikita (thebookelf_) · Rating 4 out of 5]

BOOK REVIEW: The Gifted, the Talented and Me
This book was such a refreshing read. I picked up YA fiction after a really long time and was not at all disappointed. When I read the blurb I thought the book would be a little inclined towards non-fiction too, but to my delight the book was a fictional satire.
It is a story about a family who have suddenly reversed their financial situation and are relocating to UK for a better life. One of the three kids finds himself out of place in the new school and then slowly starts his journey from being confined in his shell to discovering his “gift and talent”. Not a very new theme, but the narration is top-notch. The story is inspiring and funny at the same time. I love the eccentric character of the mother and his daughter Freya. An effortless read with quirky characters and a simple storyline. It touches various themes – relationship between family members, brotherly affection, bullying, discovering one self, battered self-confidence and teenage love.
Thanks to Bloomsbury for sending me this book. It had everything in it to make a reader happy!

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very funny, with many genuine lol moments. Reading this book brought back similar happy memories of reading the Adrian Mole and Georgia Nicolson stories. Every scene with Freya is a joy, particularly her responses to "How was your day?" 😂

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very, very funny.
Not the kind of funny that feels forced either. It feels painfully real at some points, describing the most accurate description of teenage life written by an adult I have ever had the chance to read. The utter silliness of the book really makes it.
5 STARS

[Foghorn · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the first page I found myself laughing out loud. This book is hilarious.
I passed it to my very-reluctant-to-read 13 year old and he is hooked! Woohoo!

[Flavia Maltritz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Darum geht‘s:
Der 15-jährige Sam ist ein ganz normaler Junge von nebenan: er schreibt mittelmäßig-gute Noten, hat nur eine Handvoll Freunde und nur wenige Follower in den Sozialen Medien. Er ist jedoch mit sich selbst und seinem Leben zufrieden und es stört ihn auch nicht, dass er damit der Außenseiter in seiner übermäßig talentierten Familie ist. Doch dann wird sein Vater durch den Verkauf seiner Firma von einem Tag auf den anderen sehr reich und die Familie zieht nach London. Die Mutter lässt sich nicht davon abhalten, ihre drei Kinder – also auch Sam – für eine Elite-Schule für Hochbegabte anzumelden. Für Sam beginnt damit ein wahrer Albtraum. Er möchte doch einfach normal sein und erst recht nicht auffallen. Doch damit erreicht er genau das Gegenteil an dieser Schule und es bleibt ihm nichts anderes übrig, als mitzumachen. So findet er sich unverhofft in der Theatergruppe wieder – ausgerechnet… Ob er da einen Weg finden wird, sich mit seinem neuen Leben zu arrangieren?

So fand ich‘s:
Auch wenn ich seit längerem nicht mehr zur Zielgruppe gehöre, lese ich nach wie vor sehr gerne Kinder- und Jugendbücher und fühle mich mit dieser Art von Lektüre generell sehr wohl. Bei diesem Buch hatte ich jedoch überraschenderweise das Gefühl, tatsächlich aus dem Lesealter herausgewachsen zu sein. Im Nachhinein betrachtet spricht das aber für die altersgerechte Erzählweise des Autors und vor allem auch für die gezielt eingesetzte Jugendsprache der Figuren.

Ich brauchte also ein bisschen, um in die Geschichte reinzukommen. Es war dann vor allem der Humor, der immer wieder aufblitzt und die verschmitzte Art des Protagonisten, die mich nicht haben aufgeben lassen. Und das war sehr gut so! Denn ab einem gewissen Punkt, hat mich die Geschichte dann doch noch gepackt und ich musste unbedingt erfahren, wie es Sam in der Theatergruppe ergehen würde.

Schlussendlich bin ich wirklich froh, durchgehalten zu haben. Denn neben den vergnüglichen Lesestunden, wofür der schlagfertige und spitzbübige Humor sorgt, hat William Sutcliffe auch eine wertvolle Botschaft in seine Geschichte reingepackt: wie wichtig es ist, sich selbst treu zu bleiben und sich nicht verbiegen zu lassen.

Für mich hebt sich dieses Buch wohltuend von den Standard-Jugendbüchern ab und der Autor trifft hier genau den Nerv der heutigen Jugend. Er legt den Finger gezielt auf wunde Stellen, aber immer, ohne belehrend zu werden. Er bietet stattdessen altersgerechte Lösungen und verliert gleichzeitig nie den Humor und eine gewisse Spannung aus den Augen.

Nach meinen persönlichen Startschwierigkeiten befindet sich dieses Buch letztendlich doch auf der Liste meiner Jugendbuch-Highlights und es gibt eine begeisterte Leseempfehlung von mir.

[EdenB15 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. I was told it was funny and I wasn’t let down. This book focuses mainly on Sam who has moved with his family to a new area. It deals with his struggles to fit into his new school and make friends. It also has a blogging aspect from his mum which is a interesting perspective. Fav character was defiantly his little sister Freya even tho she wasn’t in it much so sweet and innocent and funny! His dad was quite grimy and annoyed me but the other characters and thei development were acceptable. Also good LGBTQ+ representation with sams older brother. This wasn’t my favourite book as at times I feel it did drag however I did like it all the same

[17duncanw166 · Rating 4 out of 5]

The genre of the book was a comedy and it made me laugh a lot due to the amounts of funny bits! This book isn’t in a series . I liked this book very much as it was relatable to the life of a teenager in some ways. The book is very happy all the way through even when the protagonist moved away from his standard school to a more fun and creative school where he didn’t like the change at all. The story ended with him and his girlfriend kissing after a dramatic incident not long before. I would recommend this book to people in the age of 12-17 for all genders.

[Alex Nonymous · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Gifted, the Talented, and Me was a fun read, its just targetted at slightly too high of an audience. The humour, narration style, and themes all felt perfect for a mostly middle grade, male audience (honestly the entire time I was reading I was thinking about James Patterson's I Funny. A lot of similar vibes) but the occasional sex joke and swear word mean that its not likely to be marketed towards or bought for that audience which is a shame because I truly think this would flourish there.

[Miss Critchley · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Sam’s dad sells his business and becomes rich he moves the family from Stevenage to Hampstead where ordinary Sam is enrolled in a creative school for the gifted and talented. The book is very funny, and a real celebration of embracing the ordinary, trying new ventures and first crushes. Sam’s family life is hilarious. The book is a YA novel but suitable for pre-teens. I would highly recommend it for ages 11-16. Although I enjoyed it too!

[Felix · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book because it was interesting and funny. I found the plot very creative and realistic and liked how it explored lots of different types of people

[Sophie · Rating 5 out of 5]

So funny! I read this in my library lesson at school and I had everyone giving me strange looks for laughing so loud! It was such a refreshing uplifting book and a much needed break from all of the dystopian fiction that I read. Much recommended for a good laugh!!

[Marco Ocram · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely. A properly funny book. Apart from a complete absence of spelling mistakes, clichés, pleonasms, implausible dialogue and syntax errors, you might think I'd written it myself.

The set-up is that a family from Stevenage (how do I summarise the banal horror of Stevenage for overseas readers?) gets suddenly rich and moves to a gentrified part of London, where everyone is up their own rectum and writes reviews on Goodreads. Our antihero- an introvert adolescent with a downer on life-is reluctantly enrolled in a private school where he has to mix with exactly the sort of kids he least identifies with. How will he cope?

The narrow-minded, hidebound, conventional critic might argue that the first-person narrative is so cleverly crafted (some phrases made me guffaw with delight, whereas in the case of the other books I've reviewed lately the guffaws have been those of disbelief at the dire prose) that it doesn't fit the supposedly gauche character of the protagonist. However, us post-modernist giants know that to be a sophisticated writerly device to invert fictional identity norms, as any YA reader would instinctively appreciate.

My fancy was thoroughly tickled.

[Hallie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really did not like this book. Firstly, I do not understand what age it is for. All of the characters sound like they are 12, but they are supposed to be 15 and there are sexual references and things that indicate that it was not made to be read by 12-year-olds. Secondly, the main character did not appear to grow or change at all except for learning to like theater. He was not very nice at the beginning and becoming rich did not seem to make him nicer. It seems like a lot of the changes he made was to get girls or friends. Thirdly,
***Spoiler***
His brother fakes being gay to get girls and then gets mad when the girl he fools around with's girlfriend gets upset. This is not called out or seen as problematic, it is just seen as a way for him to be "quirky" or whatever to get a band together.
***Spoiler done***
Overall, nobody in this book is a good role model and I would not recommend people of any age read this book.

***Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Kids for the eARC in exchange for an honest review***

[Kajree Gautom · Rating 3 out of 5]

I understand this book is supposed to be a satire and witty but I did not like it that much.
The starting was really nice tho. It had a promising voice and fun narration. But the characters? Ugh not my fav.
I found the MC to be too whiny and conflicted. Ethan was lovely but him using gayness as a profit was kinda shocking. Freya was lovely and full of energy.
And I know, all of them are witty for a reason but I could not like any of the characters. They were just weird? Idk. I couldn't connect. Marina was nice tho, she felt homely and genuine.
The story simply went nowhere tbh. The end was abrupt, I felt and by the time something exciting was starting to happen in the book, boom, it's over. Ah that was a disappointment tho.
There were parts in the book that I enjoyed and parts that I disliked. Overall, it was a quick breezy read. Has a nice theme of being yourself that it tries to preach.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was received from the publisher in return for an honest review

Sam’s not really sure what his dad does, he’s never actually stopped to ask, but when he sells his company and the family are suddenly rich Sam’s mum decides they have to move, and so they leave Stevenage behind, instead moving to a house in Hampstead, and with the new home comes a new school, the North London Academy for the Gifted and Talented. No while this seems wonderful for his art mad younger sister and his guitar playing older brother Sam has no interest in being an artist, or a musician or an actor. He just wants to play football with his mates back home…

To me this felt like a book of two halves one of which I definitely preferred to the other. For me the first half – well probably over half in all honesty – felt like it was trying too hard to be satirical. There were certain parts that felt over exaggerated to the point it was too much, just seemed a little ridiculous. Things we learn about the academy for example and the mother in particular felt ridiculous and to be honest just annoying. This book’s saving grace was that it seems to be quite short, before long I was 70% of the way through and things seemed to calm down a little, it felt like the author had stopped trying so hard to write satire and it slipped into what felt like an everyday contemporary novel where the guy tries to figure out what he wants in life, and tries to make his mother understand that who she wants him to be isn’t necessarily who he wants to be. I’m pleased I stuck it out until the end because it certainly improved for me, but I must confess if that percentage had been much lower when I glanced down I probably wouldn’t have finished it.

Sam is the central character and I did find him fairly easy to connect with. Pulled from his school, his friends, his home at 15 when the family comes into some money and his mum decides that Stevenage isn’t good enough for them anymore. I stayed at the same secondary school right The was from 11 to 18 but I can imagine if I’d be forced to switch schools that late on and to be put into a school which is so obviously not me I wouldn’t have been happy either.

Sam’s mum, I really had a problem with Sam’s mum, I just found the character too over the top in general, as though the author had taken a stereotype and then multiplied it by itself into some sort of hippy monster. I do think she does things with the best of intentions and genuinely believes she’s doing what’s best for her children but she does say some quite hurtful things to, and about, Sam. She calms down towards the end and I think becomes a much better character for it.

Ethan and Freya are Sam’s older brother and younger sister. Sam and Ethan have what I guess is a fairly normal teen brother relationship, mainly consisting of Ethan telling Sam to get lost, however they have a couple of deeper conversations within the book which I enjoyed. One the other hand I adored seven year old Freya she was frequently hilarious and the sort of sneaky younger sibling no one wants, the sort that lets you think you’ve gotten away with something as they appear to be in their own little world, only to reveal that they most definitely heard what you said by bringing it up at the worst possible time.

There were plenty of stereotypes to be found amongst Sam’s fellow students with at least one who made me shudder and to remove his smug smile on a regular basis. My favourite student outside of Sam and his siblings had to be Marina and I wish we’d had the chance to find out more about her.


Final Thoughts
I love satire and I really wanted to love this book but something didn’t quite click for me. Perhaps I prefer my satire to be a little more subtle. I have to confess that towards the end it did start to grow on me and the last quarter or so where it felt like it moved into more standard contemporary territory definitely added a star to my rating.