Pages:
288
Publisher:
Hot Key Books
Release
Date: 2nd
June 2016
Edition:
UK proof, review
copy
Other
Titles by this Author: Guitar Girl; Diary of a Crush:
French Kiss, Kiss and Make Up, Sealed With a Kiss; Let’s Get Lost; Pretty
Things; Fashionistas: Laura, Hadley, Irina, Candy; Nobody’s
Girl; Unsticky; You Don’t Have to Say
You Love Me; Top Ten Uses for an Ex-Boyfriend; Adorkable; It
Felt Like a Kiss,
After the Last Dance
Twelve
hours, two boys, one girl…and a whole lot of hairspray
Seventeen-year-old
Sunny’s always been a little bit of a pushover. But when she's sent a picture
of her boyfriend kissing another girl, she knows she's got to act. What follows
is a mad, twelve-hour dash around London – starting at 8pm in Crystal Palace
(so far away from civilisation you can't even get the Tube there) then sweeping
through Camden, Shoreditch, Soho, Kensington, Notting Hill…and ending up at 8am
in Alexandra Palace.
Along
the way Sunny meets a whole host of characters she never dreamed shed have
anything in common with – least of all the devilishly handsome (and somewhat
vain) French ‘twins’ (they're really cousins) Jean Luc and Vic. But as this
love-letter to London shows, a city is only a sum of its parts, and really it's
the people living there who make up its heart and soul. And, as Sunny
discovers, everyone – from friends, apparent-enemies, famous bands and even
rickshaw drivers – is willing to help a girl on a mission to get her romantic
retribution.
A
fast-paced, darkly funny love letter to London, boys with big hair and the joys
of staying up all night.
I'm a huge fan of Sarra Manning’s
books so I obviously went into London
Belongs to Us with high expectations. And obviously it was brilliant.
I've been hearing for weeks what
a love letter to London this is and that couldn’t have been more spot on. Sunny
lives in Crouch End but journeys from Crystal Palace to Soho to Notting Hill
and finally, to Ally Pally in one night of adventure, heartbreak, making
unexpected friends and embracing her true self. I’ve always lived just over an
hour from London so I’ve spent a lot of time in our capital, but I can’t help
but feel I've missed out from not living there.
I really loved getting a quick
history on the London boroughs that Sunny visited at the beginning of the
chapters – they were a lot of fun. And there were also lists and pie charts
scattered between which is always really fun to include in a novel. As Sunny
romps through London she bumps into familiar faces for long-time Sarra Manning
readers. We catch up with Jeane from Adorkable
who’s still ruling the social media world and Molly from Guitar Girl, her first YA novel. It was
SO good to catch up with her and I was pleased I made the connection
considering it’s been over 10 years since I read Guitar Girl!
The people Sunny meets and the
adventures she goes on during the night make her wake up to the person she’s
been with Mark. A lesser, squashed-down version of herself and I was nearly
cheering every time she stood up for herself or took a risk, and by the end I was
so in love with her it’s a bit ridiculous. I want Sunny to be my friend.
London
Belongs to Us is
a heart-warming, joyous romp and I couldn’t have loved it more if I tried.
Thanks to Hot Key Books for the
review copy.
Sophie
I loved this too! Definitely appreciated the history/geography lessons :)
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