When Only One

this book was an automatic buy for me as Meg Gatland-Veness' first book I Had Such Friends was so amazing and truly one of the best books i've ever read but i had to wait to read another book of hers before i could label her as a new favourite author of mine..but it's safe to say that she is now one of my favourite authors after i read this book.
She has the best writing i've read in a while, it's true talent. Her characters are so real, so relatable and so raw. I can't explain it in words really but her characters are a breathe of fresh air.

This book hit home for me, too close to home so it made me so emotional. This book says a lot about poverty, especially poverty in Australia. I grew up and still live in poverty but my childhood was ruined by it. I slept with mice and cockroachs, my house had holes in the floor you had to dodge to not fall under the house, we couldn't wash our school uniforms and we had to sleep in them so we were the “smelly kids” at school, i couldn't take a shower for two years in my teens, i had to sneak off to the beach to wash my hair with dish soap. The character Emily from this book has the same issues so i could really relate and know exactly what she was feeling in every moment. I also lived in a house of alcoholics and violence so those aspects really hit home.

We all take a message away from most of the books we read but the message this book gave me was: How do we all expect to live in a perfect world when the people in power do everything to kill us? Bad environments breed bad people, a bit controversial to say but it's true.
I lived in a poverty stricken area for my whole life and i've seen what a lack of money does to people. It kills them. It will wear you down mentally until you can't take it anymore. It cost money to be good now days, it cost nothing to commit crimes when you have no hope for the future. How do you expect people to treat others nicely when their mental state is at such a low that there is absolutely no hope because they can't afford to eat and feed their kids? How do you expect people to follow laws when the system is so against them? Again, as someone who had nothing it was easy to give up on life, at the age of 14 i was already beaten down by poverty and didn't see a future for myself but i had to hold on for my sisters who i raised (same as Milo from this book) and i can't imagine life without them so if they were taken away.. i would not have been here writing this.
Fighting poverty is one thing but getting in trouble for it and the law coming at you to strip you of anything else you have is a whole new topic which i can't get into because it makes me so emotional.

so reading this just reminded me of my childhood and i guess that's a good thing as it meant i could really understand all the characters, even the bad person.

in conclusion: Poverty kills people in more ways than you think. Donate your unused food and clothes to charity bins and community centres, it means more than you think.

Meg Gatland-Veness you've done it again and made me cry once more with your books. A new insta-buy author for me!