Meet the Battles family. Mo is a workaholic trying to balance her job with writing a book, Dora is her dramatic teenage daughter, Peter portrays himself as Oscar and Dad, well… he seems normal enough.
The story focuses a lot on the emotions that each character feels towards the other family members, and explores the damage that raging hormones can do – for both a teenager and a middle aged woman.
If I am being truthful, I wasn’t ‘feeling’ this book when I first started it, but thankfully I know why. This book is in essence a diary told from the perspective of every family member within the Battles household, bar the dog, and because of this the writing style changes to reflect each character. Which meant reading it from the perspective of Dora; a seventeen year old, felt oddly disjointed from the writing styles I am currently used to – there was a lot more OMGs, a lot more use of the word: hate and, a lot more focus on how awful every day seemed to be. However, once I became accustomed to each character’s tone, I found I relaxed and enjoyed the book a lot more.
Witty and with a pinch of realism, this book is the perfect antidote to a long week – best served with a glass (or bottle!!) of wine.
Until next time, Chloé x
Reviews by Chloé 