Shouldn't it be her boyfriend, Dylan, who makes her feel this way - not Miss Murray, her English teacher?
This was kind of a nice book about one girl’s experience of firstly realising she likes girls and then coming out.
The characterisation was okay - I really liked Ashleigh and felt invested in her story. I also liked her relationship with her mum and thought it was very realistic as well as very positive. I could see fairly early on what was going to happen with old Dylan - as soon as he shoved his hand up Ashleigh’s top on their first date it was pretty obvious he was going to be cast aside in short order.
The plot itself revolves firstly around Ashleigh developing a massive crush on her English teacher (which is actually done pretty slowly and realistically) then realising she’s gay and coming to terms with this as well as getting over her crush on Miss Murray (which I think happened a bit quickly). It’s pretty sparse in terms of Stuff Actually Happening, but itstill managed to keep me reading.
I think the thing I liked most about it was Ashleigh’s journey of self-realisation and the way she comes out to her family. It was really positive and although she faced some negative reactions, she stayed true to who she was.
The only criticism I’d have is that I’d like to have seen her relationship with Miss Murray developed further. Ashleigh develops an infatuation with Miss Murray (and at parts it’s kind of a creepy infatuation) but to add tension I would have liked to see things going further between them rather than the flirtation they have. I get that Miss Murray was pivotal in making Ashleigh realise she liked girls, but I think more could have actually happened.
All in all, this was a pretty sweet book and although the plot was a bit thin on the ground it was still a decent read.
4 stars