No One Else Can Have You by Kathleen Hale

I didn't realise until I finished this book just how odd it was. I mean, it's a murder mystery where a teenage girl is killed horribly on the first page and yet it doesn't take itself all that seriously. You know the events the words are describing are awful and yet they don't seem that bad.

Probably one of the first things I should say is I loved this book right up until a certain point. For those of you who have read it, that point is when Kippy goes to the mental asylum. After that, everything just went sort of downhill.

Let's start with the positives. Kippy-I adored Kippy as a character (even if I did think she was a boy for the first five pages which was somewhat jarring when I discovered she wasn't). She's so weird it should be off-putting and yet she remains delightfully likeable and somehow down to earth throughout the whole book. Yes she has issues (everyone has issues basically) but they're just a part of her. She's definitely one of the less annoying YA narrators.

Unfortunately, this strength is also the book's main downfall. I just didn't feel the emotional side at all which is downright weird in a murder mystery. When the actual murderer is revealed, it's almost done with no fanfare at all. There was no emotional impact because the character didn't seem to feel an emotional impact. In fact, everyone reacted just a bit too normally to the brutal murder at the start. Kippy is sad for her friend obviously but the author doesn't focus on what anyone thinks about the actual method of murder. Even at the end in the big reveal, it's just presented as another fact.

Now this alone wasn't enough to make me dislike the book since the first three-quarters are so strong and hey, it almost feels like it could be a stylistic choice done on purpose. But it is a shame when a murder mystery book decides not to make a song and dance about the murder. I would still greatly recommend this book and I'm so glad I read it but if you're hoping for a dark read, you're going to be disappointed.

(Also, final spoilery rant: Does the murderer really have to be the loner kid who was sad after his parents died and collects a bunch of nerdy/weird stuff? Because that stereotype hasn't been done enough)

Overall Score: