there were many moments i was close to tears when i read this. as someone that’s going through a phase of asking myself where i wanna go, where my place is in the world, and who serves my love and who doesn’t, this was such a beautiful read.

I enjoyed that this book has a collection of stories and it's all about the same character. The plot of this worked well overall and was hooked from the first story and was invested in the character. Amanda Smyth wrote this perfectly and left me wanting to read more from them.

Thank you to NetGalley and Peepal Tree Press for the advanced reader copy! All thoughts are my own:

Look at You follows a young narrator from childhood to adulthood as we encounter many friends and family along the way. It’s a journey of self-discovery, love, joy, pain, gain, loss, all of it.

Even as short as this book was, this was brilliant. A touching and sometimes tragic tale of life. After the prologue, I like to imagine this whole book is one big flashback over the narrator’s life, at the people she met and loved. While fiction, it was written with the verity of all our lives.

I think overall Smyth’s prose here is what made this so touching. There isn’t anything in this book that is necessarily groundbreaking (I don’t say that as a bad thing, it makes for a fairly comfy, nostalgic read) but just the feel of the book and closeness to the reader is what stands out to me.

I DNF (did not finish) this book a few chapters in. I was really interested by the description and setting of the book, but it didn't really grab my attention and the chapters felt quite disjointed - more like short stories than a novel, which I wasn't expecting from this book. I liked Ann's chapter probably the most from the few I read, but even then I wanted a bit more from it. I didn't feel a connection between the two girls in that chapter like I think the book was trying to portray so even that chapter fell a bit flat for me. I did like the writing itself and I think someone who enjoys short stories would enjoy this book a lot more than me as it seemed to have quite an interesting format.

The concept is nice as an idea but the whole different chapter, different POV made it hard to track the plot. Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The idea of different person per chapter is interesting and original but I had difficulty to make the link between everyone's relation. I felt the story was uneasy to follow which made my reading a little harder. I got to learn a little about life in Trinidad and the struggles of balancing between two homes but not enough to really capitivate me. Thank you Peepal Tree Press for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

This book follows a girl from her youth to being a young woman flitting between worlds of Trinidad and England mostly. We learn her story through chapters based on the important people in her life and her interactions with them, be it for a short period of time or a life time.
I enjoyed this unique format as it felt like a patchwork quilt of her life with each patch lending its unique story to the whole. Sometimes it felt like reading a selection of short stories. I was unaware of timelines through the book and I wonder if it would’ve mattered or wasn’t too relevant after all. I’m still not sure. All in all a great, thought provoking read!

I love a book that feels like a collection of moment’s and memories straight from the author’s mind Iike this one! This coming of age novel and overall story of Amanda’s life was so captivating, authentic, and interesting.

Highly recommend!