The story concerns Al, who as the story opens has killed himself, and is written alternately by Nathan, one of his brothers, trying to make sense of his death and discover what drove such a talented young person to make such a decision, and by Megan, a girl Al befriends, who shared his passion for art, and their coming together, joined as they are by their anger and grief. There’s a real spectrum of all the nasty side of the internet and social networking apps depicted here and how they can be misused. It's such a powerful and important book that all teenagers should read to highlight the dangers of bullying.

One of the things that Nate realises in the book, is that there is more than one way to grieve, and that it is often quite a messy process, which isn’t as clear cut as you may think. This was such a well written book, the jargonistic and slang language used, really told the story from the hearts and minds of the main characters. Megan is dealing with her own guilt for not being a better friend to Al, as well as the reappearance of feelings from when her dad died and her best friend Tara being more interested in Elis who's nothing but bad news. This book will make you cry and make you angry but it will also fill you with hope for all the love that does exist.The young actor playing Elijah also does a great job of bringing this hard-shelled, probably deeply wounded and yet undeniably horrible character to life.

A very emotional read, beautifully written, deals with loss and love in such sensitive and well handled way. We hear from both boys, and the story is truly heartbreaking at times as it delves into social media bullying, never being free of it, constantly harassed wherever you are. I don’t think this element will be difficult for any other readers, but you might wonder for the first few pages as you settle into this. The plot is well paced, nicely scattering character development and plot revelations to keep it moving along without ever feeling rushed or slow. He teaches Nathan and Megan to look around them and really see what is there, to find the beauty in what others don’t.I’m certain this will help others who might be in a dark place and show them that there is still hope and light at the end of the tunnel so to speak. Jawando really emphasises the fact in her book that if you have a lot of emotional thoughts then you should talk to someone - “it’s OK not to be OK”. As with any good book, the characters become very real and you feel each of their emotions so I wanted to hug them, shout, scream, slap and yell at them.

Nate has lost his brother to suicide- through the grief, anger and self blame he starts to dig into Al’s life in the hope of finding answers.The Branford Boase Award Judges said: ‘this book took my heart, smashed it, then put it back together’; ‘written with so much sophistication and empathy’; ‘the characters are so authentic, each one sympathetic but flawed’; ‘the emotions are so raw, you really feel them’; ‘heartbreaking yet hopeful too’.

I will not be able to put it on my library shelves because of the language - it fits the story but is too strong for my readers. It’s such a tragic tale of what young people face these days and the devastating impact it can have on their lives. Bullying by social media is an extremely distressing concept for any parent as it is so completely out of any control they may have in terms of getting things removed from sites and the heavy reliance of young people on the varying platforms to maintain their own presence and status is frightening. As a young, straight teenager, Nathan is an example of the modern teen who doesn’t necessarily care about someone’s sexuality, but recognises that he is living in a world where the expectations put on him about masculinity do affect how he shows affection. This book could, however, be quite unsettling for certain people who have a connection to suicide or depression.

This book really deserves 2 separate reviews; one of the story itself and one of the profound effect the background to the story will have on the reader.