Review: What my mother doesn't know (Sonya Sones)

So I thought about writing this review in verse, but... I couldn't even get past the first two lines, so wisely decided against it.

What my mother doesn't know by Sonya Sones is a YA book written entirely in verse, so I really wasn't sure what to expect from it. But it's good: light, but nice. I read it in just over an hour, I think.

Since it's written all in poem form, it has lots of cute quotables.

On having a crush on a guy she's chatting to online: If I could marry a font / I'd marry his.

On being in love in high school:

I wish I could drink a magic potion and
shrink way down till I was small
enough to fit right into his
shirt pocket and live
there tucked near to
his heart listening
to it beating in
rhythm with
mine every
minute of
every
day

And sometimes a few words can contain heartbreak in them, as you realise your perfect relationship's dying: Way back in the beginning of September / when I wasn't even sure yet / if he liked me, / I used to imagine what I'd do / if Dylan told me he loved me. / In my fantasy I'd just throw back my head / with a triumphant sexy laugh, / and then / he'd rake his fingers through my hair / and kiss me hard on the mouth. / But tonight / when he finally said the magic words, / I didn't laugh and he didn't kiss me. / He just peered at me with this worried look / and I suddenly felt like crying.

Because it's all in verse, it's all read very quickly; but you skip over the meaningless stuff, you cut to the real parts of life as a teen, the arguments at home, having fun with your best friends, your crushes, your fantasies, that dress your mum made you wear....

It's like reading snapshots of a person's life, and they can be silly and trivial and funny or deep and sad or anything in between.

I won this from Natalie at This Purple Crayon in her "Unsung YA" giveaway, and to be honest I had some doubts about whether it would be any good.

But it was.

Yes, it's quick to read; it gives the feeling of being a "light" read, because you get through it all so quickly. But it's still deep, and still emotional. It's a very different book — in a good way.