All About Mia by Lisa Williamson

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 336

Publisher: David Fickling Books 

Released: 2nd of February 2017 

One family, three sisters.

GRACE, the oldest: straight-A student

AUDREY, the youngest: future Olympic swimming champion.

And MIA, the mess in the middle.

Mia is wild and daring, great with hair and selfies, and the undisputed leader of her friends – not attributes appreciated by her parents or teachers.

When Grace makes a shock announcement, Mia hopes that her now-not-so-perfect sister will get into the trouble she deserves.

But instead, it is Mia whose life spirals out of control – boozing, boys and bad behaviour – and she starts to realise that her attempts to make it All About Mia might put at risk the very things she loves the most.

What I Have to Say 

This is a great book about identity and feeling overshadowed by siblings and shows a great deal of insight into where this "bad" behaviour comes from. Because other than the blurb that I've used in this review. The word "bad" was never used in regards to Mia's behaviour. She is not going out drinking with the intention of causing a scene. Her actions aren't meant to make things "All About Mia", she's just a lost and struggling girl who doesn't know how else to deal with the pain she feels when she sees her parents focusing on her sisters more than her. 

It also gives a good look into the different perceptions that the family have. Even though the book is quite literally All About Mia and told from her viewpoints, throughout the book, the other siblings viewpoints come to light. I think this is especially apparent in the way that Mia and Audrey are sent away while Grace and their parents discuss Grace's situation. She comes back to see her perfect sister back to being perfect again, but she doesn't see all the arguments and shouting that got her back into their parents good books. 

I especially liked the fact that Williamson looked into what it's like for a teenager applying to UCAS when they don't have something that sets them apart. Mia is the type of person who's hobbies aren't something that you can put on a UCAS form, not that she really wants to go to University anyway. She's not a swimming star like her younger sister. She's not good at academics like her older sister. She has no idea what to put on her form. And the teachers reaction is to shout at her. It shows the faults in our school system, and in a lot of ways our society, that only caters to certain people. The fact that someone who doesn't have particular hobbies that they can talk about is seen as a problem or shallow. This is something that even I've fallen into the trap of thinking in the past, so this was something really eye opening. 

Williamson's books are so amazingly written. They're very easy to read and they make you think about things that you haven't even considered before. I personally think that everyone should read them. 

My thanks go to David Fickling Books for providing me with this copy for review.