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Review: Undone


by Cat Clarke 

Jem Halliday is in love with her gay best friend.
 Not exactly ideal, but she's learning to live with it.

Then the unspeakable happens.
Kai is outed online ...and he kills himself.

Jem knows nothing she can say or do will bring him back.
But she wants to know who was responsible.
And she wants to take them down…

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First off, I think it prudent to mention that given of some of the themes that run throughout it may not be suitable for younger teens or more sensitive readers, although as ever use your own judgment.

 I absolutely fell in love with Jem - what a fantastic main character! Abandoned, broken and filled with a kind of Shakespearian vengeance, Jem had me simultaneously relishing the dark satisfaction of a dastardly scheme and weeping in frustration at the madness of it all.

It was an emotional rollercoaster. I was completely unprepared for how engaged – how downright opinionated – I would become as Jem battled her own and Kai’s demons, which on reflection was a little naïve given that at the heart of this story lies a terrible tragedy. What I found particularly interesting was that although I really did love Jem, sometimes – a lot of the time – I disagreed with her, which is what made Undone stand out from so much other Young Adult fiction that I’ve read.

Clarke’s characters do not say ‘this is right’ or ‘this is wrong’ and expect the reader to agree. Or perhaps that’s exactly what they do, as is the way of teenagers the world over, which makes these characters feel so present. The teens in this book are filled with a heady angst and confusion; a sense of superiority towards the bumbling adults in their lives, a binary sense of morality and what good and bad means. As the book progresses these lines begin to blur: the villain starts to look heroic, the cad is discovered to have a heart, and poor betrayed Jem can no longer tell right from wrong.

The great merit of this book is the space that the reader is given to observe, to have an opinion, to see every perspective and change opinion again, and again, and at no stage be obliged to have the same opinion as the heroine, or any of the other characters for that matter. It’s not easy to write about a controversial subject such as suicide but Clarke does it with sensitivity and heart.

I urge you to read this novel and challenge you not to be left reeling with a tumult of emotion. There’s one thing I can guarantee, you’ll be left with an opinion and you’ll be thinking about Jem and this book weeks after you’ve read the last page.
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If you or someone you know is having a difficult time and struggling to cope, please consider contacting the incredible Samaritans and taking advantage of their incredible support and resources.
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