Jamilla Dhakoul is friendless and homeless and trying to survive her last year of high school at Hamil Bay High, ‘a brutal hellhole where bullying is an Olympic sport’.
Jamilla’s house and family farm have been destroyed in a fire, her former best friend Billy Radcliffe doesn’t speak to her anymore, and she’s stuck living in a caravan in Billy’s back yard (with her entire family) because their Mums are best friends. Talk about awkward!
The only good thing in her life is her popular video channel, Jam and Scream where she rants about stuff while eating scones. Meanwhile, Billy is facing a social disaster of his own when a terrible audition for a reality TV show goes viral.
The Unexpected Mess of it All is a YA romcom that lives up to the description on the box by managing to be both romantic and funny. Jamilla and Billy are forced into each other’s orbit when their families go away together on their regular holiday park getaway. Although I never experienced it myself growing up, I loved the setting of the fading and dated holiday park that serves as a repository for all their favourite childhood memories. Somehow, Gabrielle Tozer has used this setting to evoke both the nostalgia of looking back on a childhood that’s rapidly disappearing and the inevitability of the change that is just around the corner.
The Unexpected Mess of it All highlights the challenges of growing up in the age of social media, group chats, and internet pile-ons. It also highlights the value of a reliable friend to help get you through the ‘mess of it all’.
Overall, this is a light, funny, and relatable read featuring positive family and teen relationships. Full of big personalities and crackling humour, this book will leave you smiling.
PS. Gab Tozer is also a Riverina local, so why not show her some support by reading this book or sharing this review!
-Katrina Roe, RRL
