Book Review: Looking For Lucie by Amanda Addison #LookingForLucie #TheWriteReads #UltimateBlogTour @AmandaAuthorArt @NeemTreePress @The_WriteReads @WriteReadsTours

Synopsis

Looking for Lucie is a contemporary YA novel that explores identity, self-discovery, and newfound friendship as an 18-year-old girl sets out to uncover her ethnic heritage and family history.

“Where are you really from?”

It’s a question every brown girl in a white-washed town is familiar with, and one that Lucie has never been able to answer. All she knows is that her mother is white, she’s never met her father, and she looks nothing like the rest of her family. She can’t even talk about it because everyone says it shouldn’t matter!

Well, it matters to Lucie and-with her new friend Nav, who knows exactly who he is-she’s determined to find some answers.

What do you do when your entire existence is a question with no answer?

You do a DNA test.

My Review

Lucie is 18 years old and she’s always known that she was different. One of the main reasons is because she has a different skin tone to her mum and doesn’t really know much about her biological father so Lucie decides to take a DNA test but what will the results show?

What attracted me to this book was definitely the idea of the main character taking a DNA test to learn more about her heritage. The storyline was interesting and intriguing but also relevant to many people. There were elements in the story that I could relate to in particular the question that Lucie is asked many times by different people which is where she is really from.

As a child Lucie grew up in a loving family with her mum, stepdad and step sister but the one thing that she couldn’t get away from is the fact that she doesn’t look like her family. Throughout her life she has picked up on this herself and through comments made by others which has led her to think about her life and want to know more about who she is.

Lucie is definitely a curious and confident 18 year old. Although she’s had questions in the back of her mind as to who she is including her genetic background, cultural and ethnic heritage she’s never taken steps to find out more information. That is until she takes a DNA test and eagerly awaits the results until she bumps into Nav at college and breaks her phone. With the results due any time Lucie takes Nav up on his offer to fix her phone and finds herself confiding in Nav that she’s taken a DNA test. It’s through this secret that Lucie and Nav strike up a friendship. I think that Lucie was very brave to do what she did because despite being curious she also took a big leap of faith in taking the test.  Although Lucie and her mum are close she’s never felt comfortable enough to ask questions about her biological dad and there has never been an opportunity to bring up the subject. 

It was interesting to follow Lucie’s journey to discovering more about her background and cultural identity. Especially because the more she learned the more it enriched her life giving her a sense of identity.

A YA read about identity and culture.

Author Bio

Amanda Addison is an award-winning author of books for adults and children. Her writing has been translated into German, Greek, Italian and Ukrainian. Her picture book, Boundless Sky, was nominated for The CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medal, and her YA novel, Looking for Lucie, was listed for the Searchlight Writing Novel Opening Award. A graduate of Chelsea school of Art, her writing and artwork are inspired by travel, textiles, and the natural world. Amanda holds an MA in Writing the Visual and lectures in Art & Design and has also led workshops in Creative Writing at the National Centre for Writing. Amanda lives in Norfolk, UK, with her family.

Her writing includes flash fiction, short stories, picture books and novels. She explores themes of home and belonging, and enjoys using the juxtaposition of rural and city life. Her characters are often artists or scientists, as their curiosity about the world around them are two sides to the same coin, and the exploration of art and science can give us meaning and purpose in life with its infinite avenues of discovery. Amanda’s debut YA novel, Looking for Lucie, Neem Tree Press 2024, explores the above. It is a contemporary story of identity, self-discovery, and newfound friendship. Lucie, an 18-year-old art student sets out to uncover her ethnic heritage and family history with her new scientist friend Nav. Together they unravel family secrets.

Amanda believes in the power of stories as a window on the world, and a mirror to better see ourselves and is passionate about stories which are empowering and inclusive. When not writing she can be found swimming in the North Sea or running in the countryside, and that is when she gets some of her best ideas!