A. F. Stone - Strong Stuff

A. F. Stone - Strong Stuff  

5⭐

Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Fiction, New Adult 

Pages:  265

Format: Paperback 

Publisher: SRL Publishing 

Date Published: 27th April 2021

Huge thank you to SRL Publishing for sending me a copy of Strong Stuff to read and review.

Book Blurb: 

Strong Stuff is the story of Ruby, a young carer who finds her world turned upside down when her mother dies. She is forced to live with her estranged father on the wrong side of the tracks, where her life as a teenager really begins.

Ruby finds love and friendship in the most unlikely of places – but when forces conspire to take it all away, she must fight to keep what matters to her, at all costs.

My Review: 

This book! Omg! What an emotional roller-coaster this book was! It got me crying and it got me laughing and smiling and it even got me upset and angry. Loved this book! The writing of it is beautiful, the characters are so real and raw, and each page is full of emotion. This is one of the books that need to be shouted about from the rooftops, as it explores so much in such a short book, from the life of a young carer to abusive relationships with a parent, to alcoholism and friendships. Although this book doesn’t shy from heavy topics it has some very light and lovely moments of everyday life of a young girl, who is trying to take the first steps into independent young adult life.

The story follows Ruby, who is fourteen and looks after her ill mum. However, soon her life turns upside down as her mum passes away. With being a teenager, social services move her to Denby House, a place for kids to stay until they are found a foster home. Soon, however, Ruby’s father takes her in and she needs to adapt to a life with him, even though she barely knows him. Ruby knows that she needs to make the most of the situation and that she only has to live with her father for two years before she can move and live on her own. However, it is not as easy to live with someone who has an addiction, can barely look after a child and is abusive…

Ruby’s journey is so raw and emotional, but even though life throws so much at her, she doesn’t give up even just for a moment. Her strong spirit and ability to look after herself, whilst also looking after others around her, including her father, her friends and her dog Bella, is just amazing.

Other characters in the book were also very well explored and each of them is just as complex as Ruby is. Each character also added so much depth in to this book. My favourite part, however, was the exploration of the different types of friendships and trust that Ruby had with all of these characters and the different types of support they all gave to her, whether it is emotional or physical support.

I love how this book doesn’t shy from very hard topics such as the reality of young carers' everyday life, rough neighbourhoods and abusive home life. All of these topics are explored through Ruby’s situation and presented so well by the author, with strong empathy, sensitivity, understanding and care. I also liked that this book is set in one of the northern UK cities, Sheffield, and not London as most books of this genre usually is set there. For me the setting of this story, Sheffield, made the story itself stand out so much more and made it unique.

Overall: Such a raw, emotional and heart-wrenching story about someone who has so much that life threw at her, at a young age, but who is a fighter and her strong spirit helped her overcome hard parts of her life. Honestly, a MUST-READ book, as it explores so many important topics that I believe we shouldn’t shy away from talking about more openly. 

About the Author:

Amy Stone grew up in Stoke-on-Trent. She moved to study English Literature at the University of Sheffield, where she now works. Amy was short-listed in the short story category for the Bridport Prize in 2017.

https://srlpublishing.co.uk/authors/s/a-f-stone