Wendy just wants to be a poet. So how comes she’s on the run after an art heist?
An aspiring writer from the Southside of Glasgow, Wendy is in a rut. She tries to brighten her call-center job by shoehorning as many long words as possible into conversations with customers. But her manager isn’t amused by that and, after a public dressing-down, Wendy walks out.
Jobless and depressed, she finds consolation in a surprise friendship with another disgruntled ex-colleague, wild-child painter Cat, who encourages her to live more dangerously. It’s just what Wendy needs and it’s also brilliant for her creative juices. But a black cloud is about to overshadow this new-found liberation, as well as to put Wendy on the wrong side of the law.
This is a book I have been planning to read for ages and ages but just hadn’t had time. Well I had the time this month! I feel like such a fool, I wish I’d read this book months ago, back when I first bought it because I could have love it for longer.
Wendy was such a lovable protagonist. I absolutely loved her and wanted to give her a big hug and make her some soup. She was very reluctant to reveal parts of herself, instead she would describe moments from pop culture and claim them as her own lived moments.
I really enjoyed how she and Cat complimented each other and brought each other out of their shells. I though that the friendship between Cat and Wendy was so cute and so fun. I really enjoyed their friendship and just enjoyed their interactions. Wee Wendy was clearly hurting and I think that her hurt attracted her to Cat, who was hurting too. This book covered some very tough topics and I got quite emotional at points. The book did a great job of keeping some light within the dark. I heartily recommend this book!
Sometimes, the Wendy and Cat show resulted in some law breaking. This is obviously a bad thing…but it made for interesting reading. The book actually started with Wendy running from the law before circling back to tell the reader about Wendy and Cat. I really liked knowing that the book was going to result in running from a crime. I liked knowing that their actions were going to escalate.
There were a few moments where I wanted to do the dramatic slow clap from 00s teen movies. When Wendy stood up to her awful boss in the call centre (where I’m 95% certain that I used to work in but for a very real company and not a fictional one), I genuinely cheered! When she stood up to her awful sort of boyfriend and her university bully, I whooped and said ‘good for her’. Can I also commend the author for writing such enraging characters in the form of her gentleman friend and her uni bully? Because I hated them so, so much!
I enjoyed Wendy’s relationship with her granny. Her granny was a wee legend!
Kapowski Reads 