You Against Me By Jenny Downham.

You Against Me By Jenny Downham.

Pages- 413 pages
Time To Read-  6 or 7 Days.

Synopsis;

If someone hurts your sister and you're any kind of man, you seek revenge, right? If your brother's been accused of a terrible crime and you're the main witness, then you banish all doubt and defend him. Isn't that what families do? When Mikey's sister claims a boy assaulted her at a party, his world of work and girls begins to fall apart. When Ellie's brother is charged with the crime, but says he didn't do it, her world of revision, exams and fitting in at a new school begins to unravel. When Mikey and Ellie meet, two worlds collide. Brave and unflinching, this is a novel of extraordinary skillfulness and almost unbearable tension. It's a book about loyalty and the choices that come with it. But above all it's a book about love - for ones family and for another.

REVIEW:

CHARACTERS:

How do i describe my love for the characters of this novel?

Firstly, I'll talk about Ellie. My first impressions of Ellie were not good. I felt a need to hate her for what her brother did to Karyn and for her family's behaviour. But once I met Ellie properly i realised that she cannot control her family anymore than a normal teenager can. When i seen the real insecure , normal side to her i felt instantly more connected to her . She was a sweet girl. I loved her development and growth as a character . She was very strong willed individual and this was evident when she stood up to her father and brother in the final pages of the book. I loved her romance with Mikey and I also liked the way she could be herself with him.

OH MIKEY! Where does one begin? I loved his fury to get revenge on the boy who hurt his sister. I felt excited along with him at every chance that arose for him to get revenge. I also loved his relationship with Ellie that blossomed into something real over the course of the novel. He was always sweet and caring and i loved his contribution to the plot . My book was dogeared with many of his swoon-worthy quotes underlined and committed to memory. He was a Charming , sweet , protective brother and a funny and loyal friend and boyfriend. Who doesn't want that?

Another thing i loved in this book was that every character was unbelievably realistic! Because of this i could easily dive into this book and not re-surface for hours.

5/5

PLOT:

The plot was just amazing. Though the book deals with a serious issue of sexual assault, it does contain more of a romance theme without forgetting the court case or its seriousness.

The plot had me reading for long periods of time and although i didn't have a lot of free time to read it, due to school work, i found myself fully submerged in the plot when i did have time.

5/5

 WRITING STYLE:

Jenny Downham's writing in this book cannot be faulted. I have not one bad thing to say about her writing. She created realistic characters and a perfect plot line that will stay with the reader long after the final page. Her writing is so good that I am eager to read her other book, "Before I die", which I hope to read before the movie version comes out! Another example of how good this book is; One day i was reading This book in my sitting room and unknown to me, my mother had started to read over my shoulder. When I got up to change the channel my mum asked me if she could borrow it after me ! She is currently reading it now.

5/5

OVERALL RATING:

15/15

Five Stars - * * * * *

Possibly one of the BEST YA book i have ever read!! :)