What a blooming brilliant YA free verse, I love this format and read it a lot, so when I say this one is up there as one of my favourites, it means go pick this up!

Erik is grieving for his dad, covid has happened, his mum doesn't have a great job and they are struggling for money. His mum has just found out shes pregnant and the father is not interested. He feels alone, he is befriended by two boys at school and starts to make some not great decisions.

Gosh, this book is powerful, I had to put it down a few times because I didn't want to know what happened next, but at the same time I did. I just didn't want it to be bad!

I loved Ravi as a character, his family and his love of old school music, I loved how he supported Erik. I won't say too much more as I don't want to give spoilers, but I highly, highly recommend this one.

Gripping story of Erik’s descent from happy schoolboy to county lines drug runner. It’s pacy and tense and as you keep hoping for Erik to find a way out of his nightmare, the threats and tension builds to a nail biting climax.
Best friend Ravi provides a welcome relief and sense of hope in a life that is spiralling out of control.
Beautifully written, the verse novel format makes it an accessible and enjoyable read for teens - and adults too.

So these days you've only got to say 'verse novel', and you'll already have my interest. I'm a massive advocate of the format, as I have found it greatly appeals to teenage readers. I think it's something about the way that the free verse sounds a lot more like everyday speech than most prose novels do.

Using this very accessible format to package a story like this, which sheds light on a topic that I think many of our young people today could do with understanding better, gets you a book which I would 100% consider essential for any library collection serving this demographic.

Out 30th March 2023 - thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

In the ever changing world of working in a School Library as I do, you so often look to books as a way to build a bridge and highlight topics that some young people may not want to discuss/not know how to discuss - such as County Lines.

In this debut release, Tia Fisher expertly uses the free verse form to present Erik's journey. He is endearing, relatable and you can totally see how he slips into making some very bad decisions. It was also a joy to read at the end of the book that the author has worked with specialist national charities to ensure the authenticity of Erik's story.

This should be an essential part of any Secondary and above Library upon its' release. This is an issue that is so widespread that this book needs to be discussed and shared at every opportunity.

Wow. Pulls no punches. Distressing YA realism showing the spiral of a bad decision.

This became darker and darker as the story progressed. But in doing so, the reader got see how Erik goes from grieving son to desperate enough for his family to start dealing in drugs and being unable to extricate himself from a very dangerous situation.

This was a very short novel, felt like a Melvin Burgess book at times, and became more brutal and graphic than I was expecting.

Erik has friends, a talent for running, reasons to stick to a path that would keep him out of trouble. But his home life means he now considers himself the man of the house following the death of his dad, and needing money, the 'easy path' presents itself. Though it doesn't take Erik long to work out that it's not easy, not pretty, and not possible to walk away from.

It was a rather upsetting read as a parent, seeing a son taking on the burden and worry of an adult, and then seeing the awful situation he puts himself in.

Erik and his friend, his teacher, are all memorable and visual characters. His world is also all too real and writing the book in verse works very well for the genre and character - it gets across the plot without needing to take time over more. It felt immediate and dark, and I have read many recent books in this style that take you swiftly through a plot with description and depth and losing nothing by taking out the prose.

Powerful, dark and one that hits home. For ages 13 and above.

With thanks to Netgalley for providing a sample reading copy.