My Properly Messed Up Life

When sixteen-year-old Lucy Harper is uprooted from Essex and moved to the quiet town of Blackthorn, her parents call it a fresh start. Lucy calls it what it really is-an escape from a past no one wants to talk about.

Determined to keep her secrets buried, Lucy plans to survive her new life unnoticed. But everything changes when she's pulled into an unexpected friendship with a group of teens who are anything but ordinary: Liam Foster, the charming star footballer who makes her heart race; Noah Reed, his brooding, guitar-playing best friend who seems determined to dislike her; Jessica Parker, the effortlessly perfect queen bee with a hidden edge; and the ever-kind Ellie Dawson and Tom Bennett, whose relationship feels like the only stable thing in Lucy's world.

As Lucy navigates first love, fierce friendships, and the intoxicating freedom of belonging, the truth she's tried so hard to hide begins to surface. Because fitting in is hard when you're fighting a battle no one else can see-and sometimes, the bravest confession is learning to ask for help.
Set against the nostalgic backdrop of 2005 England, My Properly Messed Up Life is a raw and heartfelt coming-of-age story about friendship, identity, and discovering that being "not quite normal" might just be what makes you extraordinary.