All of the Above by James Dawson

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Pages: 316

Publisher: Hot Key Books

Released: 3rd of September 2015

When sixteen-year-old Toria Bland arrives at her new school she needs to work out who her friends are in a crazy whirl of worry, exam pressure and anxiety over fitting in. Things start looking up when Toria meets the funny and foul-mouthed Polly, who's the coolest girl that Toria has ever seen. Polly and the rest of the 'alternative' kids take Toria under their wing. And that's when she meets the irresistible Nico Mancini, lead singer of a local band - and it's instalove at first sight! Toria likes Nico, Nico likes Toria, but then there's Polly...love and friendship have a funny way of going round in circles.

What I Have to Say 

This is definitely my favourite James Dawson book. I'm not so keen on horror, so I read the books mostly for the fantastic, usually very quirky characters he writes. This book was perfect for me, because it had a plot driven by the characters rather than the other way around. 

The characters were wonderful, though a couple of the background characters were easy to mix up and slipped the mind a lot. The ones that were in the spotlight, however were the kind that are easy to fall in love with. Quirky sixth formers who I found very realistic. 

The issues that Dawson looks at during the book are ones that I think are very important. He looks a lot into sexuality and gender, but also touches on self harm and eating disorders. It's the sort of book that really can have an impact on you. 

This book is fantastic for diversity.