'One morning Apricot Jones wakes up to graffiti on her front door and a man in a black Jaguar who calls himself the Baglan Giant looking for her mum. Apricot wishes she were anywhere else, maybe heading over the horizon for a new life!
But her best friend Charlie knows she will always be here, cleaning up the mess the others leave behind.'
Zillah's middle grade books, The Song Walker and The Shark Caller, were both brilliantly written and powerful reads, so I was intrigued when a proof copy of her first YA, Vanishing Edge arrived for me.
Like her MG books, Vanishing Edge is very well written novel and is a powerful read. It's a deeply dark portrayal of friendship and life in Port Talbot. Apricot and Charlie most definitely have a love-hate relationship and their story is told as a dual narrative which adds to the insight. Life isn't easy for either character and amongst the dark humour there is much grit.
There is warning of this at the beginning of the book explaining that the book contains references to self-harm and suicide and I like that Bethell has done this: the book is definitely one for the upper end of YA and not for those who are just beginning their YA journey.
Publishing 6th March, Vanishing Edge is a book that will captivate readers aged 14+.
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