Book Review: "Young Women" by Jessica Moor

I was going to start with a different book by the same author but I found these two that sounded really interesting and felt this way first. I know, it sounds a bit odd but, I would like to wait before I read something that is a little bit more in depth than this one seemed. However, I also wanted to take a small dip before taking the dive. Jessica Moor's writing style is easily readable and atmospheric. There is something quite dark and shady to the atmosphere she writes into this book too which makes it extra special.

This book is about several things. The first of those things is how our perception of others can be misguided. When Emily and Tamsin start hanging out, Emily's narrative shows us that she thinks the world of her new friend and sometimes, even tries to emulate her. At some point in the book Tamsin cuts and dyes her hair and the first thought Emily has is not that 'oh its a new do' but instead is that she liked it better before. This is an interesting thought because we know that Emily idolises Tamsin. That of course, is part of the book which changes things as we go through.

Another thing this book is about is the experiences of women when dealing with a man who has harmed them sexually. The centre point of this book is dealing with men who have done sexual harm to women and in some cases, children. Emily is a lawyer who works with a woman's charity in dealing with these cases alongside other women. Tamsin works into this story in a very interesting way but I don't want to say too much about it. What I will say is that Tamsin wanted to be an actor and if we look at the Hollywood world we can see that this is not really a great time to be a young woman in that sort of era.

Another thing this book is about is truth, honesty and reliability. There are many characters of question in this book and not all of them have actually committed crimes. At times, we can also see Emily is not completely honest with herself, she becomes quite cunning in some of her routines. Eventually though, as she is the character we are meant to hang on to - she does try to resolve herself. This is something that makes the book even more interesting because the betrayal that happens in the book is something that the reader hopes will be solved.

I thought that this book was incredibly readable. It was filled with not just atmosphere and descriptions but also conversation. I know that you're thinking that I don't normally like too much dialogue and I don't. But in this book, it makes the whole narrative come together - you have to really track what is being said and to who because of the fact that sometimes people will say things to one person that they will not say to another. When it comes to a character named Amina, you will really start to find out how these dynamics of conversation work.

When reading this book I noticed that though not a lot of pop culture references appear, there is a definite feeling that we know the time and place that the book takes place. This is one thing I respect about writing - people don't always need to name-drop cultural references to rub into the reader's face that they've done some research about the time. Jessica Moor instead uses speech patterns, a bit of the lifestyle here and there to let the reader know the time period, the cityscape and the way these people navigate their daily lives.

All in all, I'd like for you to read this book. I read it in order to dip into the fiction of this author and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. If you want a good example of dialogue-heavy fiction then this is probably the one that you want to read. The many short chapters plus the quick conversations really do make you feel like you're simply living in real life where one thing happens after another. Life in this book never stands still. It is pretty well formed.