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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
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.
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.