Never Trust a Gemini by Freja Nicole Woolf - #BookReview

 

I cannot stop dreaming about Alison Bridgewater. This could be because it's Libra Season... Love and relationships are on everybody's minds during Libra Season, according to my Bible to the Stars - or my Book for Blithering Idiots, as my Dad calls it. But it could also indicate that I'm reaching dangerous and dizzying new heights of my Alison Bridgewater Obsession, which is not good news, as I'm dizzied almost to death already!

They're very innocent dreams: Alison and me walking hand in hand across Tower Bridge in London... Alison and me playing tag on a white-sand beach...

***

Life is fraught for fourteen-year-old, zodiac-obsessed Cat. First there’s a minor bus-meets-girl accident, then there’s a boy-next-door suitor who can’t take a hint, but the most desperate disaster of all is Cat’s crush on the stunning and poetic Alison Bridgewater.

According to their star charts, Cat and Alison are the perfect match. To which Alison (woe alas!) remains oblivious.

But when the dangerously cool Morgan Delaney wades into the river to save Cat's sketchbook of kissing Disney princesses, she sends Cat’s stars spinning.

Can Cat get over her Alison obsession and follow her heart towards Morgan? Or should she exercise caution? After all, Morgan is a Gemini, and if there’s one thing Cat’s Bible to the Stars has taught her it’s that you can never – ever – trust a Gemini…

***

This book is aimed at teenage readers and particularly those of the LBQT+ community. Having said that - and speaking as a hetrosexual woman whose teenage years seem but a distant memory - I absolutely loved this book and was sorry when it came to an end.

The main character, Cat, is a fourteen year old lesbian who has yet to come out. She has a crush on her straight close friend, Alison, and the reader very quickly realises that this aspect of the story is not going to end well. Cat is one of the most adorable teenage characters that I have come across recently. She is clumsy, often says the wrong thing and lives her life according to her horoscope.

In fact, the book is divided into astrological sections and the plot plays out against Cat's understanding of what should be happening within this astrological time frame. I had a good chuckle at some of her expectations as well as the way in which she interprets it and attempts to apply to her life.

I am not a follower of horoscopes, but this book made me curious and I went to look up what the stars predict for me this week. I was surprised to read that it said that I should seek out something fun to help me access my inner child. This book had certainly done that as it was a very fun and easy read and I really enjoyed it. I guess that means that the stars aligned perfectly for me with this book!

What I most enjoyed about this book was that it was not an issue led narrative. Rather, the author has created a fun and interesting story centred around a main character who is a teenage lesbian. Ms. Wolf has done an excellent job in portraying her characters in such a believable and accessible fashion. I equally liked the secondary characters. Who could fail to like Jamie, Cat's accidental boyfriend?

This is a great coming-or-age story that will delight teens and adults alike.

ISBN:  978 1529509991

Publisher:  Walker Books

Formats:  e-book, audio and paperback

No. of Pages:   320 (paperback)

Purchase Link - Bookshop.org*

About the Author:

Freja Nicole Woolf’s writing is absolutely not autobiographical. (Except for the bits that are.) She’s been writing since school and, at the über-ancient age of twenty-four, she finally wrote her debut, Never Trust a Gemini, as a joyful, romantic alternative to the issue-led LGBTQ+ stories she grew up with. She lives in London and aspires to be a Capricorn. Unfortunately, she's a Pisces. Never Trust a Gemini, is her debut novel and is published by Walker Books.

(book courtesy of the publisher)

(author info courtesy of The Bent Agency)

(all opinions are my own)

*Disclosure: I only recommend books I would buy myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post contains an affiliate link from which I may earn a small commission.