Ellie Thomas's Reviews > Heart-Shaped Box

We're not only in familiar territory of dispossessed youth that Suki Fleet captures so brilliantly, but also with familiar characters. I straightaway recognised MC Jack as a minor character in the wonderful Foxes and it was great to see him come into his own in this superb story.

We're plunged into Jack's personal hellscape, stripping in a dodgy club at the age of twenty-four after a dreadful childhood and a series of poor decisions. There seems to be no way out until he is rescued by fellow stripper, Lark. I loved the way that mysterious Lark seemed almost angelic compared to Jack's self-disgust, which drives him to keep Lark at arm's length.

The twists turns and discoveries in this story are driven by the connection between these two, which Jack can't resist however hard he fights. Heart-Shaped Box is a beautiful, memorable, complex coming-of-age story that neither plays down life's hardships nor its unexpected sweetness.