The One and Only

Although this book has been age banded by the publisher as 11+, the sexual nature of its content makes me reluctant to recommend it for pre-teens. This is the final book in the ‘All About Eve’ trilogy, but the author provides enough background information to enable the storyline to be followed without having read the previous two books.

Eve runs away from her convent school in Spain and returns to London to be reunited with her boyfriend, Luke. The lovestruck pair run away to Cornwall to escape the wrath of Eve’s father, where they decide to take their relationship a stage further. Eve wants their first time to be special. But when she finds out that Luke has already lost his virginity in a meaningless one-night stand, it’s touch and go whether their relationship will survive.

Most teen fiction romances are told from a girl’s point of view but, refreshingly, McKenzie has written the first person narrative from Luke’s perspective. It’s a shame about the girly cover design, because without unisex shelf appeal it’s very unlikely that boys will choose to read this book. Luke’s story of adolescent angst, shifting friendships, peer pressure and parental conflict would appeal to a young male readership, but The One and Only is destined to become a popular read with teenage girls rather than boys.