White Night (Ellie Marney, A&U)

Bo Mitchell is a typical guy in Lamistead. He’s nice, sporty, and doesn’t do anything that will make him stand out. Aurora Wild stands out in all the wrong ways. She’s from the town’s off-grid community, Eden, and everything from her clothes to the contents of her lunchbox is a reminder to her classmates that she doesn’t belong. Bo doesn’t want to get involved. But as he struggles to make decisions about his life at home and at school, Bo finds himself drawn to the comfort of Aurora, and Eden, which might not be the paradise it seems. In her latest novel, Ellie Marney brings her trademark knack for suspense to a story that challenges ideas about gender, family, love and the environment. Bo and Rory have every bit as much romantic tension as Watts and Mycroft in Marney’s popular ‘Every’ series, and White Night is similarly grounded in its rural setting. Lamistead comes to life as a vivid community portrait, rich in its descriptions but with a genuine understanding of the lives and concerns of teenagers. Marney has an obvious respect for the intelligence of young people, which resonates through her work. White Night is frank, sexy and clever.

Bec Kavanagh is a Melbourne-based writer and reviewer, and the manager of the Stella Schools Program

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