 Hi everyone, my name is Steph, this is Kid Lit Joy, and welcome or welcome back to my channel. This is a place where we celebrate all things kids, middle grade, and young adult fiction and non-fiction. Today I'm here to review Look Me in the Eye by Jane Godwin. This was a review title that was sent to me by Hachette, so thank you very much to them. This is Jane Godwin's most recent release, and it was a really intriguing sort of contemporary middle fiction story. It is definitely upper middle fiction, so more 12 plus, leaning into early young adult. I'll read you guys the blurb, so it says, What do we have once trust is gone? Bella and Connie are best friends. They've made it through COVID lockdowns together and have just started high school. But now Connie's older cousin, Mish, has moved into the area. Mish is unpredictable, sometimes unfriendly, and Bella doesn't trust her. No one seems to trust Mish, least of all her father who tracks her with his phone 24 seven. He says it's to protect her, but the more he tracks her, the more risks Mish takes. And it's only a matter of time before Connie and Bella get caught up in Mish's lies. A dramatic and compelling story about freedom control and whether we have the right to know everything about the people close to us. So this book was a book that I was deeply uncomfortable reading, and that's the point. The entire story is told from Bella's perspective, and Bella and Connie start off in the book doing something or dropping off this parcel on behalf of Mish, and Bella feels really uncomfortable about it. And then the more time that they spend together, Bella begins to realize that Mish is very unpredictable and that the things that she does are unsettling for Bella. And so this does deal with shoplifting, and the consequences of that, it also deals with a child who is under constant surveillance from a parent. And because we're getting the story from the perspective of someone outside of that relationship, it's really interesting what Bella picks up on and what she doesn't and her thoughts and feelings on the whole issue. And one of the ways that Mish tries to get around her parents' constant surveillance is that she leaves her phone with her cousin or with Bella, which puts them in a really precarious situation as well. And so it's all of those feelings around it and how everything comes to a head. And alongside all of that, Bella has her own family, things that she's dealing with. She lives with her mother and her stepfather, and her mother is about to have a new baby, and they're living in this old rundown place, but they're trying to make it feel really homely and make it theirs. And her stepfather runs this collectible toy business. And so all of these things are intertwined in the story of Bella and Connie and Mish, and how the things that take place affect that relationship, and how the girls have to navigate that situation. And also how you deal with someone in your family who is deeply, deeply controlling. And the adults are a presence in this story, but it is very much told from the perspective of the young teens who are living through this moment. But it's also about the importance of telling the truth and working out who you can trust, and how you can help others even when you feel like you are powerless. So it was a very intriguing read, but yes, a very deeply uncomfortable book at times. I can imagine that this would be something that would resonate with many young teens, and the feeling that their parents are trying to control their lives and their social lives and what's going on. Also highly relevant, and I think an important read for multiple age categories. So thank you very much to Hachette for sending this my way. I was really excited to read it because Jane Godwin is just a top tier author. The language and the writing style is just incredible and just a really worthwhile reading experience. I will leave a link to where you can find out more information about Look Me in the Eye down below if you're interested in checking it out. If you have read it, feel free to chat to me about it in the comments, or if you know of similar titles with similar themes, particularly for early teens, let me know down below as well. If you want to let me know that you're here but you don't want to leave a comment for free to leave a camera and radio down below. Otherwise I hope that wherever you are in the world, you are staying safe and healthy, and I will see you in my next video. Thanks so much for watching. Bye everyone.