But I didn’t like it as much as How I Live Now, which was one of the best books that I read last year.

Meg Rosoff has real talent and an eye for the quirky, yet it felt as if she had bashed this one out and in doing so, didn’t have chance to fully discover the true essence of the novel. I wonder if she was under pressure from her publisher to produce a fast follow-up so that she could ride the crest of her initial success?