Saving Daisy by Phil Earle

Title: Saving Daisy

Author: Phil Earle

Publisher: Puffin

Published: January 2012

ISBN: 978 0141331362

Rating: 4/5

The cover on this is eye catching, being bright red.

Phil Earle revisits one of the characters from his first book, Being Billy.  Saving Daisy is dramatic and attention grabbing – the prelude before the story begins sets the tempo for the rest of the book. 

From the start Daisy tries to keep some kind of balance in her life and strives not to stand out from the crowd.  She has more than one secret and she doesn’t want anyone finding out about her weaknesses.  Daisy blames herself for the death of her mother – although I had an inkling as to how her mother died, it’s not until a lot later in the book that Daisy opens up enough to actually trust someone to tell them how she died - by this time Daisy has been through so much emotional turmoil, and yet still manages to blame herself for everything.  She has an extremely low self esteem so it was wonderful to see her grow as a character and become the person she was meant to be, however much pain she had to go through to get to that point.

I’m really torn about my favourite character in this.  Daisy not only has an understanding case worker, she also has dominant enemies in most situations and is made to feel like an outcast by nearly all of her peers.  The storyline and characters will ring true for many teens I think, as it broaches a lot of subjects for the age range.

Parts of this book made me want to cry out in frustration and sorrow for what Daisy was going through.  I’m so glad there was a positive ending to this and it ties in neatly with Being Billy, giving a voice to a hard to talk about subject for many - self harm.  

Book synopsis:

Daisy's mum is gone. Her dad refuses to talk about it. As far as Daisy's concerned, it's all her fault. As her life starts to spiral out of control, panic leads to tragedy and Daisy's left alone.

But sometimes the kindness of a stranger can turn things around. A stranger who desperately wants to save Daisy - if she'll only let herself be saved . . .

A powerful and moving story linked to Phil Earle's critically acclaimed debut book, Being Billy.

Source – Many thanks to Puffin, a copy was received in exchange for an honest review.