At the start of this book, I was curious as to what was happening as our main character June pees herself on the school bus after drinking two cups of water given to her by Kathleen, who forbids her from going to the toilet. It becomes clear soon enough to us that her mum, Loretta drowned in the river by where she used to live with her mum and dad when she was younger.
As I read on through the book I found that the story was set between modern day and the events over the past few years of her life growing up from being ten to an elder teen. In the modern time, she meets Reverend Shaw and Mickey.
As the story continues, June receives a bike, her slip of freedom from Kathleen and her daughter Megan who submit June to a life of torturous abuse as well as force feeding, threatening behaviour most days just because of her race it is implied.
Whilst biking through the woods at a young eleven years old, she meets Blister, as she admires his paper shapes hanging up inside the family caravan, his parents Mr and Mrs Wick's and their array of adopted children. Their child Tom is also a sufferer of cystic fibrosis which comes up throughout the story.
June and Blister grow closer as the years go on and he is the only one who knows what her horrid home life is like. June can pretty much forget about the abuse when she's with Blister, but some events do of course trigger her to panic and have her memories effect her full force. A few brief events that occur are that at age thirteen June is bitten by snake, we witness step sister bully Megan lose best friend Anne. At fourteen June kisses Blister on his cheek as he made her paper butterflies. At fifteen the school bullying she has endured for years is still worsening as she and Blister try to go to a sixteenth birthday party after June gets a random invite which is a set up to embarrass June further in school. Blister and June endure a lot in this book as Blister is June's obvious only confidante in everything. But still a love grows which keeps June going through everything. As she grows up she faces situations at home with more guts and force but still her dad grows further away from her and unaware of the hidden problems poor June has faced.
This book is a great novel on discussing forms of trust, types of abuse, friendship, bullying and of course love.
