Colour Me In by Lydia Ruffles

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 320

Publisher: Hodder Children's Books

Released: 8th of August 2018 

Nineteen-year-old actor Arlo likes nothing more than howling across the skyline with best friend Luke from the roof of their apartment.

But when something irreparable happens and familiar black weeds start to crawl inside him, Arlo flees to the other side of the world, taking only a sketchbook full of maps.

With its steaming soup and neon lights, this new place is both comforting and isolating.

There, Arlo meets fellow traveller Mizuki. Something about her feels more like home than he's felt in a while. But what is Mizuki searching for?

HOW FAR CAN YOU OUTRUN YOURSELF . . .

BEFORE YOU LOSE YOUR WAY BACK? 

What I Have to Say 

I loved this book so much! It a little slow to get into and finish, but it was so, so beautiful. The way everything was described and the magic of the abandoned places that Mizuki and Arlo go to. The fact that there were no place names at all in the book added greatly to the magic. It made it so that it could be anywhere, even after you've figured out what countries are being described. 

I liked Arlo a lot. He was buried in grief and depression, his mental health already crashing before the accident that sends him running. It's a very good look at how depression can infect your whole life and even when you're not struggling with it, you're still worried about it coming back and turning your life upside down again. 

I loved Mizuki too. Her quest for a photograph that had never been taken before, her enthusiasm to go to the abandoned places and find new things to capture with her camera, the fact that she has her own things that she's hiding from. 

Two characters travelling around, exploring places from islands full of wilds rabbits, to abandoned hospitals and theme parks, finding the magic in the places left behind. This is an amazing book about mental health. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Hodder for providing me with this copy for review.