Leah loves and loathes her best friend, Kristy. Her mother might be dying of cancer, but Kristy’s home life is idyllic compared with the squalid apartment and alcoholic mum that Leah returns to every day. Kristy, although petty and obnoxious, is adored by everyone – including the mysterious, handsome 26-year-old Kurt King, who gives Leah his phone number and tells her to get Kristy to call him.

Leah doesn’t give the number to Kristy and instead calls Kurt herself, pretending to be his dream girl and getting intoxicated on his undivided attention. She feels special, and enjoys slipping into the fake persona she’s made up, distancing herself from the real Leah, who is overweight, insecure and poor. But things go sour when Kurt wants to meet his over-the-phone girlfriend in person, and Leah realises she’s gotten herself – and Kristy – into dangerous territory.

The tense situation with Kurt King is only one aspect of the story. Much of it is just Leah plodding sadly through her life, as her home town, high school and all the characters she meets are described in vivid detail that make the story’s world feel three-dimensional and ugly. Reading about this lavishly created, awful little place leaves you with a visceral sense of griminess and a lingering feeling of despair.

My favourite supporting character is Leah’s long-suffering English teacher, Mr Calvino, a lover of literature who has picked up various nervous tics, a soft drink addiction and existential depression from teaching his apathetic class.

The short, blunt sentences in Leah’s narration seem jolting at first, but they create a flat and deliberate pace that sets the dull and desperate tone for the book and the lives of its residents. If you like bleak snapshots of small-town America, this book is for you.

Reviewed by Alex Henderson
Age guide 14+