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4.5⭐ #WomensPrizeLongList 2022
I am surprised I don't see more people talking about this. It is a complex story of Bess being raised by foster parents who are not physically abusive but quietly cruel. But it is also about the love of teen best friends, and that wonderfully awful first love with a boy who is "cooler" then he is good. The writing is good, I was flying through the pages. The topics can be dark and heavy (check TWs) but so good.

The long and short of it is this: it's the kind of day where the heat sticks plimsolls to tarmac and I'm standing in the toilet in the Golden Grill kebab shop with a pregnancy test stuffed into my backpack.

#firstlinefridays @ShyBookOwl

With a 15 year old first person narrator this was always going to feel a little YA and this followed through to some of the secondary storylines - e.g Bess‘ best friend‘s felt a little too simplistic to me. The main one though - the failings of the UK care system and what that means for one scared young girl was all kinds of heartbreaking and all too real. One that will stick (also #booked23 - reproductive rights)

Books 148 and 149 of the year.

Sometimes in life, people can't catch a break. This is certainly true for Bess, a 15-year old who has been in the foster care system most of her life. On the surface, she is “lucky“ in that she's been placed with the same family. However, she and her foster mom have issues, her social worker simply goes through the motions and she gets involved with a 19-year old guy whose life is no better than hers.

This book is very good, it is heartbreaking and raw. There is no sugar coating. It‘s very dark. But I enjoyed it. In the end I found it empowering the way she stands up for herself and helps her best friend realise things. Be warned- This isn‘t a love story. On a hot day in June Bess finds out she‘s pregnant. She should tell her social worker, foster mother and the father who she hasn‘t heard from in weeks.

This was a good, but sad, read. A lot of insight to the care system and it‘s impact on young people. I really disliked the foster mum in this and wanted to shout loudly at her. A good debut read.

Bess is a 15 year old girl in the care system. This book explores what happens when she finds out she‘s pregnant and how the people in her life react. Although this book explores some difficult topics I felt that they were skimmed over and the author didn‘t go much into them. I also felt the characters weren‘t very well developed. There was so much potential but everything felt very surface level for the subject matters covered 2.5 ⭐️

The blurb made this sound like too light a take on a difficult subject, however whilst it was extremely readable - I raced through it in two days - it is a beautifully written story of Bess, in long term foster care, who finds herself pregnant and not knowing where to turn. It made me incredibly sad and at times angry, but Bess offers an important and ultimately hopeful voice, taking control perhaps for the first time in her life.

I found this #womensprize longlisted book a tough read. Bess, who has a fraught relationship with her foster family, has just found out she‘s pregnant at the age of 15.

The author is a care-leaver herself so we can only assume that the novel is realistic, which makes it all the more grim.

I loved Bess as a character, spiky and blunt, but thought the additional storyline ( re her best friend, no spoilers) was unnecessary. ⬇️

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/may/28/careless-by-kirsty-capes-review-a-...

Catching up on The Guardian Book reviews and came across this one - it sounds incredible.