I LOVE YOU TOO MUCH – ALICIA DRAKE

There’s an elegance to Drake’s writing that marks her out as a writer to be reckoned with and she shows fearlessness as she explores the mind of that most troublesome of creatures, the teenage boy . . . I Love You Too Much is a considerable achievement. John Boyne In the sixth arrondissement, thirteen-year-old Paul is adrift in a sea of wealth, pretence and an obsession with status. Struggling with a self-absorbed mother who doesn’t pay him any attention and her new boyfriend Gabriel who is chasing his dream of becoming a rockstar, all while trying to form a connection with his own narcissistic father, Paul is desperate to be loved. Always overlooked, it is only a matter of time before he sees something he isn’t supposed to see . . . Longing for connection, Paul comforts himself with the beauty of Paris – gorging on its sweet confections and elegant patisseries – and in an unlikely friendship with his rebellious classmate, Scarlett. A moving story set in one of the world’s most beautiful cities, I Love You Too Much by Alicia Drake is told with humour, grace and unflinching honesty.