By Vikki Wakefield, published by Hot Key Books.

Goodreads synopsis: ‘I am Friday Brown. I buried my mother. My grandfather buried a swimming pool. A boy who can’t speak has adopted me. A girl kissed me. I broke and entered. Now I’m fantasising about a guy who’s a victim of crime and I am the criminal. I’m going nowhere and every minute I’m not moving, I’m being tail-gated by a curse that may or may not be real. They call me Friday. It has been foretold that on a Saturday I will drown…’

Seventeen-year-old Friday Brown is on the run—running to escape memories of her mother and of the family curse. And of a grandfather who’d like her to stay. She’s lost, alone and afraid.

Silence, a street kid, finds Friday and she joins him in a gang led by beautiful, charismatic Arden. When Silence is involved in a crime, the gang escapes to a ghost town in the outback. In Murungal Creek, the town of never leaving, Friday must face the ghosts of her past. She will learn that sometimes you have to stay to finish what you started—and often, before you can find out who you are, you have to become someone you were never meant to be.

My review: Friday Brown was such a brilliant book! As soon as I started it, I go so engrossed in the unique story. At the beginning, with the superstitious mother, it felt a bit like If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch. Of course, if was so different, but in a good way. By the ending of the prologue tears had already sprung to me eyes (This book is SAD. Do not read it if you get as emotional over books as me. Or you will cry. At multiple points.)- that’s how powerful the authors words are.

The whole plot was totally unpredictable. I had no idea what the story was about, honestly, when I picked it up- and the whole thing was so unpredictable that I never knew what was around the next corner. After Friday leaves her grandfather’s home, she runs away and is picked up by a ragtag gang of homeless teenagers like her. But things start going terribly wrong when one character turns sour. I really wasn’t expecting the event that happened about two thirds of the way in! In total, the plot covered some really sad and really shocking issues, through an exhilarating and, at points, terrifying story.

Friday Brown was such a brilliant character. I loved her from the beginning, right when she lost everything and had the courage to set out into the Australian city by herself. I really enjoyed the way that she met Silence and his fellow gang, because not only did that open up her chances of survival, but that crucial night also came back to her at the end for a different, and clever reason. She was a really likeable person, and realistic too. Her background was pretty much all shown in the prologue, which was great, so I knew all about her, why she had that name, and even about her ancestors, before the story had even begun! I think that the decisions she made in the book were really great, and full of courage, especially towards the ending.

Overall, Friday Brown was such a brilliant read. The character were all great, the plot well written, and the story sad. This story will move you to tears, pull you in, make you gasp in shock, thanks to such brilliant, detailed and fluent writing by an amazing author. I really recommend it to Young Adults, and Adults too, if you’re looking for an emotional, yet also uplifting read. Watch out John Green- you have a contemporary fiction contender here, who’s bound to win awards too for this masterpiece! There was only one aspect of the book that I didn’t like, which I’ve put below.

**KINDA SPOILERISH ALERT**

My only problem with this book was that she never got in touch with her dad! I thought that he might come in at the end, to make the ending even happier than it already was. I mean, the reason she set out alone was to go and find him- and I still don’t understand why she didn’t make a bigger effort to go and find him. So her primary goal was never fulfilled. Which I didn’t like. But I don’t suppose it really matters- I guess the dad-less plot shows how goals and lives can change in an instant.

My Goodreads Rating: 4.5/5!

I received a copy of Friday Brown from the publisher, in exchange for a review. In no way at all did this affect my thoughts.