Book Review: The Truth About Celia Frost by Paula Rawsthorne

Title: The Truth About Celia Frost 

Author: Paula Rawsthorne
Series: Standalone
Pages: 342
Publisher: Usborne
Date of Publication: 1st August 2011
Source: Publisher*
Synopsis from Goodreads: Celia Frost is a freak. At least that's what everyone thinks. Her life is ruled by a rare disorder that means she could bleed to death from the slightest cut, confining her to a gloomy bubble of safetyA". No friends. No fun. No life. But when a knife attack on Celia has unexpected consequences, her mum reacts strangely. Suddenly they're on the run. Why is her mum so scared? Someone out there knows - and when they find Celia, she's going to wish the truth was a lie - A buried secret; a gripping manhunt; a dangerous deceit: what is the truth about Celia Frost? A page-turning thriller that's impossible to put down.

My Thoughts:
I really enjoyed reading The Truth About Celia Frost. It was different to anything I'd ever read before and it was a nice change from all the paranormal and romances that are popular right now. The story was unique and exciting, and the characters were fun to read about.

I really like how Celia was only 14. I felt that I could relate to her because she is my age, and rarely are there young adult titles that feature a main character who is so young. This means that there was little (basically no) romance, which I'm glad of because it would be weird if there was, in my opinion...

While I liked Celia, I did feel that she and the other characters were VERY unrealistic. Perhaps they got better towards the end, but somehow, I just feel that had Celia's situation been real, nobody would have reacted in that way... The hatred that Celia has her mum is so sad, and yes, I realise that she would want to rebel in any way that she could, but despite this I feel that the way that Rawsthorne went about portraying Celia's anger did not feel real. I also didn't believe in her mother's actions at the beginning, because while I know some super protective parents, I doubt anyone is that bad, and would stop her daughter from going to the hospital when she needed to go.

I liked how the book was told almost from two points of view, even though it was told in third person. I liked how it alternated between Celia and Janice's story, and the story of Frankie and his mission to find Celia and Janice, and how they both ended up woven together at the end. I thought the way that Rawsthorne developed and wrote the plot was awesome, it kept me hooked and I read the whole book in about 6 hours. It was very good.

I loved the setting of the book, even though it sounded kind of gross and I had a hard time believing it was in England... I don't know, I've just never come across a place like that in England before. It sounds scary - all the gangs and the really high blocks of flats. (I don't like tall buildings.) The foresty secret place that Celia found with Sol was pretty cool though, and it was so cute that he taught her to swim there. :)

The whole idea of Celia's illness I think was poorly played out by her mum. Once Celia worked out that she didn't have some blood clotting disorder, I think her mum should have told her the truth, instead of hiding it from her until almost the end of the book, as this would have stopped Celia from hating her for most of it. Just saying ;)

Overall though, I really enjoyed reading this book. I think it is a very strong debut from Paula Rawsthorne, and I will definitely be reading any other books that she writes, as her style is awesome. I'd recommend this to anyone looking for a good YA read that is different from the popular titles going round today, however I would say that it would probably be more suited to the younger readers (12-15) because of Celia's age and the way that it reads - it's not too complex, which makes it perfect for a quick read, but would probably be more enjoyable for a younger person. Don't let this put you off though, after all, I feel it is aimed at that age range, so therefore it's perfect!

*Thank you to Usborne for sending me this in exchange for an honest review. In no way has this affected my opinion of the novel or the author. 


My Rating:

I give it 4 Feet!

Challenges:
2011 Debut Author Challenge #19
2011 100+ Reading Challenge #59