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Tilly is perched at the top of Belfast’s largest crane. She likes to climb up high at night in order to feel free from a city which, despite the best PR, is still full of trouble and conflict. Eventually, she comes back down to discover her bike is missing and in its place is a boy named Brew. Wearing eyeliner and high-heeled boots, he offers her a drink from his flask of coffee before disappearing into the night. The next morning, Tilly’s bike is returned, but tucked into the spoke of the wheel is a card with Brew’s number on it.
As Tilly learns to trust Brew, he leads her into a world she never knew existed – a world of parties in abandoned houses, completing missions that involve break-ins, and risking everything just to help strangers in need; the world of The Unknowns. What Tilly doesn’t anticipate is that they will also make her question everything she was brought up to believe in, and force her to make a choice that will stay with her for the rest of her life.
The Unknowns is a story about hope in a city where increasing numbers of young people are struggling to get by, a place where there is no trust in the political system, and where some people still dare to dream.
As Tilly learns to trust Brew, he leads her into a world she never knew existed – a world of parties in abandoned houses, completing missions that involve break-ins, and risking everything just to help strangers in need; the world of The Unknowns. What Tilly doesn’t anticipate is that they will also make her question everything she was brought up to believe in, and force her to make a choice that will stay with her for the rest of her life.
The Unknowns is a story about hope in a city where increasing numbers of young people are struggling to get by, a place where there is no trust in the political system, and where some people still dare to dream.
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Reviews
A commendable message, delivered without finger-wagging, in a brisk and breezy novel that, despite the heavy subject matter, had me laughing aloud more than once.
The idealism and optimism presented here is carefully balanced out with gritty realism and a sense of humour; like many YA novels this book features a smart and insightful love interest who helps the heroine change how she sees the world, but in this case he also wears eyeliner, identifies as bisexual and has the self-awareness to occasionally ask, in the middle of his philosophical musings, "Do I sound like a d**k?" This is a thought-provoking and hopeful read from a writer to watch.