Fallout

In her parents’ absence a wild, impromptu party at Hannah’s home gets out of hand and ends disastrously. Drink and drugs blur the memory of what has actually happened but it quickly becomes clear that a wrecked house and robbery are the least of the protagonist’s worries. The fallout from the party will affect forever the lives of all the teenagers involved and their families and friends as accusations begin to fly and rumours circulate from outsiders as well as those directly involved. Hannah initially can’t or doesn’t want to remember what happened but as the story evolves we are asked to look at what refusal and consent actually mean by seeing the events from a range of viewpoints. This is a raw and emotional story portraying the confusion and disbelief of the young people involved and clearly showing the impact on relationships within a peer group and also within families. It isn’t a book that comes to a clear conclusion and the reader is left having to make up their own mind about what really happened.