When Olivia opens the bathroom door, the last thing she expects to see is her best friend Nicola giving birth on the floor – and to say Nicola is surprised is an understatement. She’s not ready to be a mum, and she needs Olivia’s help. But Olivia has her own problems – specifically her bullying boyfriend, Jonty, and keeping an eye on younger sister Alice. And then there’s Nicola’s friend Ben, who’s struggling with secrets of his own …
Flo's Review
This was a unique concept. Parents are gone and teenager throws big party at house? Not uncommon. Best friend has baby in your bathroom? Not common! This was a fast read. I read the majority of it in a day. It was light and easy, which sometimes you just need.
My favorite part of it was the 5 separate POVs telling the narrative straight through. Each of them took a month: Olivia, Nicola, Jonty, Alice, Ben. Instead of having the 5 POVs tell the same story, we started with one and ended with the fifth, five months later. Unfortunately, while the idea was neat, it made the story feel a little disjointed. The different POVs connected, of course, but loosely. I actually kind of feel like it would have been better to hear the whole story from the five different POVs. I also had trouble bonding with any of the five. I don't know....none of them really stood out for me where I was rooting for her or him strongly. I think maybe the actual birth of the baby was the biggest part of the story, and the rest of the it just felt like extended character descriptions. It might actually have played out better to have the five different POV/character descriptions leading up to the party and then ending with the birth. Then some sort of epilogue or "Where Are They Now?" to show us that they've all grown from the experience.
The Baby releases in the U.S. on October 25th, 2016. Thank you to Scholastic for providing me an advanced reader's copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
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