Book review: Crush by Eve Ainsworth

Title: Crush
Author: Eve Ainsworth
Publisher: Scholastic
Release date: 3rd March 2016
Synopsis: Love hurts ... but should it hurt this much? Reeling from her mum's sudden departure, Anna finds the comfort she needs in her blossoming relationship with Will. He's handsome and loving, everything Anna has always dreamt of. He's also moody and unpredictable, pushing her away from her friends, her music. He wants her to be his and his alone. He wants her to be perfect. Anna's world is closing in. But threatening everything is a dark secret that not even Will can control... Eve Ainsworth's gripping second novel is a pitch-perfect exploration of love at its most powerful, addictive and destructive.

Review:
Eve is back for round two, following on from the fantastic 7 Days and not afraid to tackle the tough matters facing teens. Here we have controlling bordering on abusive relationships and the power that love has on all of us. The great thing too is that just from the cover you know you're getting an Eve book with that unique style.  This was one of those books that you fell into, and I found i was flying through the book at a rapid pace that I haven't with a book for a while. It also got quite dark...building and building as the book went on, so you have this constant wave of emotion.

There was a great fluidity to the writing which set a good pace. The information way given through a lot of subtext reading behind the meanings of what was actually being said, and the revelation were inserted slowly and sneakily so your constantly questioning and looking at motives. I kept thinking 'it's fine maybe he'll change'....oh boy

It was great to fall back into that school mindset. We all remember what it was like to like someone and the ways that affected how we thought and our actions, and i really wanted to support their relationship. I really did. We all remember being in school relationships and how gossip spreads like wildfire and this was played out really well here, it was childish but it made perfect sense. Because frankly that's how we were! It was also great as you could place yourself in these characters...and sadly not just Anna, I've been Will too i think and you have this greater understanding.

Will however reallllllllly started to annoy me. Like he was cool and I wanted to like him, but it was these little things; how intense he was, or the manipulation and control that had me shouting at both him and Anna on quite a regular basis! Shouts of "Really!" and " You can't just don that...don't let him do that", which I was on the train, were not uncommon when reading this. I hated him so much at the end, but I couldn't hate him completely I just wanted to help him, he is a victim in a different way and whilst that doesn't excuse his actions, it shouts HELP ME.

I loved the strength that Anna brought as a character, she was vulnerable and she wanted to enjoy her relationship, so in that she was a really relatable character that you went along with and emoted with. Its so easy to sit on the outside of the book and say well 'come on Anna can't you see what's happening' but the truth is we can't and we don't want to and sometimes we need someone like Dan to be like 'listen, this isn't good sort yourself out'. Her empowerment was a beautiful thing to see.

I want this book to open up the conversation of relationships and abuse in relationships because as teenagers we all thing we know what is right and we want to shut our worlds internally and have it to ourselves but sometimes...just sometimes ...and this is a lesson I've had to learn many times recently is that it's better to just talk to someone...anyone! So please talk!