The Unexpected Mess of It All

Written by Gabrielle Tozer

Reviewed by Jamie Willis

Gabrielle Tozer is the award-winning author of seven books, including Remind Me How This Ends, Can’t Say It Went to Plan and The Intern, and her latest novel, The Unexpected Mess of It All, is a heart-warming coming-of-age YA novel that is a worthy addition.

Jamila Dakhoul is eighteen, in Year 12, and wants to escape her life and the brutal hellhole of school. She’s living with her annoying younger brother and fighting parents in a caravan in Billy Radcliffe’s backyard, after a fire destroyed her family’s home the year before. Since her friendship group disintegrated (Daph went to university and her former bestie, Billy, ditched her for the popular kids), her only friends have been strangers on the internet.

But for a long weekend, she’s brought together with Billy and Daph at the camping grounds where they all holidayed as kids, while being grounded and unable to connect to her online fans. In the space of a few days, all three friends try to untangle who they want to be and the relationships they want to have.

Jamila, Billy and Daph are relatable and complex characters. Jam must deal with her trauma, anxiety and messy emotions, to connect with others in real life, including a possible romance with Billy. He needs to choose between popularity and true friendships. And Daph has the difficult decision whether to try to impress her cool girlfriend, or be herself and alone.

Jamila’s black humour was one of the many highlights of this novel. For example: ‘The compost worms at the school have more social capital than I do’ and ‘His so-called friends have the combined emotional intelligence of a flea, and that’s mean to fleas.’ The banter between Jamila, Billy and Daph was at times both witty and poignant.

The Unexpected Mess of It All is a funny and endearing enemies-to-lovers story featuring a diverse cast (Jamila and her family are Lebanese, Billy has two mums and Daph has a girlfriend). It explores themes of self-worth, bullying and friendships and will appeal to readers 14+.

Teaching notes

HarperCollins 2024