If it weren't for Sebastian

Presumably, she wouldn't decide to study psychiatry, if it weren't... Maggie is an interesting character and the third-person story, told from her viewpoint, is strong, intelligent and quite demanding. There are lots of well-made peripheral characters, but two main ones and two main issues - and I'm not altogether happy with this. Maggie, with three A-levels, fights family pressure to study medicine, takes a short-hand typing course and lives in a bedsit, where she meets Sebastian. They share walks, films, meals and a cat, whose disappearance brings the climax. Sebastian goes missing. All through, we have two themes - struggle for independence, on the one hand, and on the other, the difficult concept of normal/abnormal personality. Sebastian is quite unpredictable, sometimes violent in the expression of his gentle beliefs, obsessive in his fears of hurting animals. Is he serious about suicide? Is he 'mad' or a poseur? Does he need understanding or treatment? The issue is raised but left dangling; perhaps a sequel is on the way which will explore it further. I hope so because I like this book and I think older, fairly bright teenagers will too.