#HowtoSurvive1985

[chocsbookblog]

Book Review: How to Survive 1985

Title: How to Survive 1985

Author: Tegan Bennett Daylight

Rating: 4/5 

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster (Australia) for a free advance reader e-copy of this book, I am leaving this review voluntarily.

When 16 year old Shannon steps out of the cinema she notices something is not right. The cinema is gone, and everything looks slightly off. She soon discovers she’s in 1985, 40 years in the past. What’s a girl to do when sucked back in time? Find her mum of course!

What I liked: The first sentence; “When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the cinema…” had my “The Outsiders” loving heart beaming! What a brilliant nod to the perfect teenage book! Seriously Tegan gets a bonus star just for that! This was a fun book, it was a sequel, which I wasn’t aware of until I finished and just thought she’d done an amazing job of a back story, but it’s still enjoyable as a read alone.  The first person narrative is simplistic but it adds to the believability that it’s a teenager telling the story. Some of the observations of differences between now and then were brilliant, and as someone who lived through the 80’s I certainly don’t miss the dog poo!

What didn’t work for me: The overall why of it all was a bit preachy but I guess there needed to be a point. Additionally the ending was a bit sudden, I like a reaction and wrap up to a story, not being left with questions.

Final thoughts: An entertaining book about friendships and time travel.

Who would enjoy reading this: Fans of YA fiction.