Kirsty Eagar has shot straight up onto my list of whoa-crazy-good authors.

I've re-read it already, as if hoping to absorb some of the magic of Kirsty's writing into my own (ahh, hasn't happened yet). Not only was this novel brilliantly engaging - but it's also an important novel about hope and pain and healing. I read this in one gulping heap and even now Carly's story continues to linger. A 15 year old surfer with synaesthesia (so completely fascinating) who befriends Carly and was an awesome dude in general. Kirsty has such a way with words that you are engaged in the scene with all your five senses.Īlso, I have to mention Danny, one of my fave characters. I loved the surfing scenes, where the ocean was like a living, breathing all-consuming force. The characters and dialogue were not only distinctly Australian, but they were so nuanced and authentic that I felt like I was eavesdropping on real life. These characters are contemporary YA at it's best.

The scenes of them meeting and starting to hang out and then Carly deciding whether to trust Ryan - it's mesmerising and lip-biting and beautiful and painful all at once. I so wanted her to be okay.Ĭarly is such an awesome protag - 19, tough surfer girl, vulnerable and alone, hurting (after a traumatic/shocking event schoolies) not letting anyone in. I was crazily invested in her and felt all ripped up and torn inside-out as the novel progressed. I was only a fifth in when I was startled to discover that Carly had gotten under my skin in a way that a literary character hasn't for a very long time. It has this languid, quietly intense pace which you sit back in the pocket, holding your breath. A powerful, raw and beautiful novel that now sits proudly on my all time faves shelf. Mate, Raw Blue is so Australian, hey? It is also so authentic that I experienced little pools of tension in my gut and tiny bubbles of hope that Carly would be okay.

surfing, Sydney, haunted past, Aussie YA :).

with a 19 year old protag and a 26 year old love interest, it's my kind of fave upper YA.

author Julia Lawrinson said: 'If you only read one book this year.

Melina Marchetta mentioned it as a fave read of 2009.

Will she let the past bury her? Or can she let go of her anger and shame, and find the courage to be happy? (from Penguin: publisher's site)

Then she meets Ryan and Carly has to decide. and the only thing that helps her stop thinking about what happened two years ago. Surfing is the one thing she loves doing. Carly has dropped out of uni to spend her days surfing and her nights working as a cook in a Manly café.

Raw blue by kirsty eagar