The Places I’ve Cried in Public- Holly Bourne' Review by Ruthann Ochoa

The Places I’ve Cried in Public is a book written by a british, young adult author who debuted in 2013 with her book Soulmates. As a feminist, blogging and writing about women’s issues on a charity-run website for ages under 25 is part of her daily routine, along with creating manageable and creative stories that are touching and heart-felt. Bourne writes about problems many british teenagers tackle today, examples being A-Levels, mental health, teenage romance and self-doubt. A lot of her books face problems about society and how society can sometimes not accept us for who we are and who we become. During 2016, she released her book Am I Normal Yet which talked about a sensitive, realistic portrayal of obsessive-compulsive disorder and won Lancashire Book of the Year Award. Not only does she talk about daily teenage life, but also writes about modern, political problems of how the government refuses to let immigrants into our country.

Recently, I finished reading this astonishing book and all though I am not a 17 year old about to do her A-Levels, the book made me feel emotional and made me appreciate how you look after yourself has a big impact on your daily life. This book reiterates the importance of how you’re treated by others, but most importantly on how you treat yourself. Presenting themes of raw heart-break, bitter realisation and truth we find hard to face, we follow the journey of Amelie. We experience her hardships, struggles and all too realistic personal battles with her, creating an unspoken understanding between reader and author. Through the character of Amelie, Holly Bourne teaches us that it’s not always easy to have the courage to do what we think is best for us. Nor is it easy to let go of things that we think is good for us. Life is full of obstacles we have to face and need to face in order for us to grow as individuals and be on the right journey to really find ourselves, and ‘The Places I’ve Cried In Public’ highlights this.

This book made me contemplate the tiniest details in life, how sometimes we can’t always get what we want and how sometimes, the results of what we want may not be as promising as they seem. I learnt how fast time moves on and how time changes memories, how time and place can mean so much to a person, emotionally and physically. “We leave echoes of our memories everywhere we go.”

Overall, this book is amazing and is an amazing novel that will help anyone get through any hardship that they have.

I give this book: ★★★★★/★★★★★