Book Review: Sweet Pea (C.J Skuse) @CJSkuse

Every so often, I stumble across a book that gives me extreme book envy. Usually, this is caused by books that release in the UK wayyyy before their North American arrival and, in the case of Sweet Pea by CJ Skuse, this was the case!

Janel, my pal from Keeper of Pages, told me this one was a must read, so I began to hunt it down and eventually persuaded my local library to order a copy.

Sweet Pea follows Rhiannon, your average woman (average job, average boyfriend, average home, average friends) who goes about her daily life. Making kills lists and murdering men in the park. You know, average stuff.

I was baffled when I found that Skuse is known for her Young Adult writing; I couldn’t believe that something so deliciously vulgar and borderline offensive could come out of the mind of a YA writer.   Kudos!   The balance of humour and grotesque is perfectly composed and I was laughing out loud throughout my whole read.

Told through diary entries, the reader is privy to Rhiannon’s most inner workings as she complies her kill lists, is annoyed with her friends and tries to keep her psychopathic tendencies at bay. Even as she was plotting to kill and cover up her various crimes, I found myself absolutely falling in love with this character; not only is she hilarious, but also she is completely raw. Nothing is censored and she actually becomes sort of oddly relatable.

I also loved all the carefully placed pop culture references; it was so quick witted and really added a special touch to the text.

The novel does have a bit of a cliffhanger type ending so I am praying that this means I will be able to indulge more in this character because she is absolutely a memorable one!

5/5 stars.