THE YELLOW ROOM BY JESS VALLANCE
2016 • 272
pages • Hotkey Books
Sixteen-year-old
Anna lives an ordinary, uneventful life with her workaholic mother after her
father left them both years before without a single word since. However, Anna’s
simple life is suddenly changed when she receives a letter from Edie, her
father’s girlfriend, telling her that he has died and she would like for them
to meet. Anna isn’t sure how to feel at first – she was estranged from her
father but the news has still come as a shock, and so Anna agrees to meet Edie
and they start up an unlikely friendship. Edie is eccentric and warm and
offers Anna the companionship she lacks with her own unemotional mother, so much
so that Anna manages to gather up the courage to tell Edie about the
troublesome secret she has been carrying deep inside her.
Jess
Vallance is an author I’ve only just discovered this year but I can fast see
her becoming one of my favourites. She’s written a compelling story about
family relationships that had me engrossed from the start with its effortless
writing style and clever story. I love books that appear simple on the surface;
books that set up a straightforward idea which gradually turns in to something
intriguing and becomes so much more than what you expected. There’s a sinister
atmosphere which clouds the familiarity of the story – you can sense something
isn’t quite right and you know that something is going to happen. I could feel
it stirring within the pages and it’s executed brilliantly. I was completely
invested in Anna’s story and her growing relationship with Edie, and the
build-up of tension which echoed throughout gave the story a powerful edge.
The
Yellow Room is marketed as a novel for young adults but I liked how this
felt different from other YA novels. It isn’t clichéd nor is it your standard
coming-of-age story; instead it’s a challenging and lightly thrilling
exploration of a young girl dealing with complex human relationships. The story
is filled with twists and turns so I don’t want to say too much about the plot
but there’s plenty to keep you gripped: bullying, blackmail, secrets, and lies,
all which make for a book that is hard to put down. In addition to being realistic
and engaging, it’s also quick – you’re thrown in to the story straightaway and
for a book of only 272 pages the plot and character arcs are very well crafted.
If you’re looking for something a
little different then I definitely recommend giving The Yellow Room a
go. It’s well written and thoughtful contemporary fiction which I flew through
easily and loved every minute of it so I’ll be keeping my eye out for more of
Jess Vallance’s work in the future. After finishing this I immediately went and
bought Birdy which is Jess Vallance’s debut novel and it's
just as brilliant as its successor. It’s much darker and the twist sneaks up on
you unexpectedly, but it’s completely engrossing so I highly recommend checking
it out.
Overall rating: 4.5 stars
My copy The Yellow Room was sent to me by The Bookbag and my review was originally published on their website.
