Adriana, after 18 months away in Borneo, is coming home. Her best friend, Emily, can’t wait. Their only contact has been through an intermittent internet connection, but their friendship has stayed as strong as ever. When Emily and her mother meet Adriana and her father at the airport, however, Emily doesn’t recognise her best friend. Ade is no longer the skinny, awkward girl who left nearly two years before. She’s now tall, elegant and stunningly beautiful. For the first time in their relationship, Emily feels on the back foot. Then, when they’re both charmed by the new guy, their relationship is strained to the point of breaking.

Can a friendship survive when they both like the same guy? Should Emily accept the usual order of things – that beautiful people always get first choice – or should she follow her heart?

There are surprising depths to this story. It’s much more than just a teen-girl romance. There is Adriana’s unresolved grief over her mother’s death, and a detailed appreciation of Renaissance and Pre-Raphaelite art and the literature of Dante. The story also explores society’s obsession with beauty and the often facile standards with which people are judged. There is adolescent angst, schoolyard bullies and the emotional pressures that so many young people struggle with.

Tara Eglington takes a friendship and stretches it to breaking point, and she takes us all on a heart-rending, delightfully agonising and inspiring journey as she does that.

Reviewed by Wendy Noble

Age Guide 14+