it was fine but i once again hate the lack of speech marks.

I won a copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway and was really excited to read it. I liked the idea of the plot, but found it quite hard to get into and quite tough reading because of the stylistic choices - the lack of speechmarks and punctuation make it quite hard to keep track of what's what - particularly when the book is not grabbing you massively.

Still, just because it's not my sort of thing, doesn't mean that other people won't like it.

Der Schreibstil war gewöhnungsbedürftig aber dennoch bin ich sehr gut in das Buch reingekommen (hatte den Film vorher schon geschaut). Die Spiele mit der Sprache waren fantastisch, schon allein deswegen würde ich das Buch jungen Leuten empfehlen!

I read an uncorrect bound manuscript which I received as part of a goodreads first read giveaway, so I'm going to start by ignoring the fact there were some spelling and grammar issues, and some amusing homonym misuses but none that really threw me out of the narrative. The hardest thing to get used to, for me - as a few other reviews have mentioned - was the lack of speech marks. I found it took me about 10 pages to get into the rhythm, but once I got into it I actually stopped noticing.

Initially I found it really hard to connect with Nini and Jameelah - their experiences, their lives was so very removed from my own that I couldn't find any common ground. But once we got to know them, and their situations, their families, their friends, a little more I started to feel for them and I was laughing with them, crying with them, I loved and hated and feared when they did. I really felt like I lived that summer with them.

And, to not give anything away, at the end, I was so proud of them for helping Anna-Lena, and utterly devastated and heartbroken for Jameelah

Brilliant first novel and I'm looking forward to the next!