Roxy by P J Reece

Roxy by P J Reece
Buy Roxy by P J Reece at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Teens
Reviewer: Sue Magee
Summary: An engaging story set in Canada, Corfu and Kashmir which would be suitable for the more mature teenager.
Buy? Maybe	Borrow? Maybe
Pages: 192	Date: October 2009
Publisher: Tradewind
ISBN: 978-1896580012
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Maddie was at Aunt Gretchen's funeral when she got the phone call to tell her that her father was in a coma and likely to die. This might sound like a double whammy but Maddie's father had deserted her soon after her birth (during which her mother died) and she was brought up by Aunt Gretchen, who never missed an opportunity to point out that she was an unwanted burden.

The relationship with Gretchen had declined further when Maddie became a single parent and it's Maddie's child, Roxy – now a teenager – who leaves Canada for Corfu to be at her dying grandfather's bedside. There are a couple of problems though. When she arrives her grandfather is frail but very much alive and planning to remarry. Oh – and Roxy discovers that she's pregnant but she's broken up with the father and wouldn't want anything to do with him even if they hadn't split.

It's a good story – I was very keen to keep turning the pages to find out how things would work out and how the mysteries of Roxy and Maddie's lives would unravel. There's a great sense of place too – I swear I could smell the herb fields in Corfu and feel the night-time cold in Kashmir. Nope – I'm not going to explain how that comes into the story. I wasn't too keen on Roxy, but she's a sassy, feisty young woman and she might well be your glass of Retsina.

And that brings me to my doubts about this book. I know Roxy only tried the Retsina but she would have drunk it if she's liked it. Alcohol and pregnancy shouldn't mix, even in fiction and particularly not in teen fiction. The attitude to sex is casual too and I'd have liked a little more emphasis on the consequences. Finally (yes – I know I'm going on a bit) the end does not justify the means – and the heart-warming ending is based on something which is wrong.

There's a cautious recommendation for the older teenager who already has the moral perspective under her belt and can see what not as it should be. For the younger or more impressionable I think I'd wait a while – it's not a story which will seem dated for the sake of waiting for the moment.

I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.

If this book appeals to you then you might enjoy House of Secrets by Diane Harker or Saturday Girl by Helena Pielichaty.

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