LoveReading4Kids Says
October 2023 YA Book of the Month
Thought-provoking, gripping, and shot-through with the warmth of a Welsh cwtch (that’s a hug with the clout to make pretty much anything feel better), Natasha Devon’s Babushka is YA fiction at its finest. Prequel to Toxic, though it’s satisfying as a perfectly-formed novel in its own right, this had me reading long after the lights should have gone out, and that’s no word of a lie.
Following a young woman’s rocky road to selfhood, Babushka explores first love, first sex and family bonds with remarkable wit. Add to that the compassion and empathy with which it tackles toxic masculinity, toxic female friendship, teenage pregnancy, and complex mother-daughter bonds, and this amounts to an outstanding triumph.
The set-up of 16-year-old Cerys leaving her rural Carmarthenshire hometown to go to art college in London is deftly done. Her Welsh community and family couldn’t be more authentically conjured, and neither could Cerys’ giddy fear, excitement, and thrill at staying with awesome Auntie Wyn (“I read books, I smoke cigarettes, I know things”).
At college, Cerys is made to feel like a tiny fish in huge, hostile ocean. Her accent and clothes are mocked. She’s instantly cast as a dumb, childish outsider by her snobby, rich Chelsea peers. Then everything changes in the wake of being invited to a party by said snobby, rich Chelsea peers.
Rarely has young adulthood been so brilliantly portrayed — the dreams, dashed hopes, and almost-unbearable decisions. And that cwtch moment when it feels like everything might just work out OK.
Joanne Owen
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Babushka Synopsis
'A little babushka is made when you’re young and something happens to you that leaves a scar…’
Cerys Williams has swapped her village in the Welsh Valleys for art college in London and the spare room in glamorous Auntie Wyn’s flat. Cerys knows there’s more out there for her in the world; it’s the year 2000 – she definitely doesn’t have to just get married and have babies and wear beige and cook stews for the rest of her life, even if Mam thinks she should. But Cerys’s London is not glossy or cool or sophisticated, despite what Adept, her favourite magazine, has told her. It’s lonely and overwhelming and confusing. Until, that is, she meets him…
The prequel to Toxic. A coming-of-age novel about love – the love you think you know and the love you never realised you had, all along.
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781915235633 |
| Publication date: |
5th October 2023 |
| Author: |
Natasha Devon |
| Publisher: |
UCLan Publishing |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Pagination: |
322 pages |
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Natasha Devon Press Reviews
Praise for Toxic:
‘A hugely accomplished debut. Menacing, heartfelt and often very funny.’ - Juno Dawson
‘Such an exciting new author of YA fiction.’ - Holly Bourne
'An astute and pin sharp exploration of the joy, pain and toxicity of teen female friendship. So real it hurts.’ - Sara Barnard
About Natasha Devon
Natasha Devon MBE is a writer & activist. She tours schools, colleges, universities and events throughout the world, delivering talks as well as conducting research on mental health, body image, gender and social equality. She campaigns both on and offline to make the world a fairer place.
Natasha is founder of the Mental Health Media Charter, which scrutinises the way the media report on mental health. She is a Trustee of Student Minds, a Patron for No Panic, an Ambassador for The Reading Agency and a member of the Men & Boys Coalition.
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