Categories: Young Adult

Cherry Crush – Cathy Cassidy

Before “Cherry Crush” fell into my hands, I came across a lot of positive opinions online. But I was afraid that I might turn out to be a little too old to like this book. I haven’t been a teenager for several years. Were my concerns right?

Cathy Cassidy is an author of books for younger teenagers, and I have never been in touch with her work before. In “Cherry Crush”, she told us about Cherry. The 13-year-old lives with her father in a small apartment in Glasgow. We meet our main character and her father, Paddy, at the threshold of major changes in their lives.

The plot of the book

Paddy decided to fight for happiness and together with his daughter he moves to the other end of the country, to Tanglewood guesthouse, which is run by his beloved Catherine. The woman raises her four daughters herself.

“I look for letters written to me by Charlotte’s daughters – Skye, Summer and Coco – in which they tell me about themselves and make sure I’m very welcome in their home. Skye used black paper and a silver gel pen. On a piece of paper sprinkled with tiny silver stars, she tells me about her horoscopes, her story and her addiction to dresses bought in second-hand clothing stores run by charities…”

Usually teenagers do not want to move and leave their friends or boyfriends. But Cherry can’t wait to leave her school, Clyde Academy and the girl in her class who teases her. Cherry dreams of experiencing motherly love. She is also curious about how her relationships with her “new” sisters will be going. Will Cherry and her father acclimate to the new place?

The cover story itself suggests that we will have a sweet teen story. In a way, it is, but not exactly. I don’t think I can skip the chocolate thread that goes through this story. Paddy and Catherine want to make exclusive chocolate truffles. Chocolate accompanies us every step of the way. You want to have one (or more) bar next to you.

What is the book about?

“Cherry Crush” is primarily a story about adolescence, about reconciling with rejection and finding yourself in a completely new situation. Cherry is difficult because it happens to color reality a little, so people don’t consider her a reliable person. After a while, the little lies that come out of her mouth start to bother her. Will the teenager manage to find herself in her new home and family?

“The problem with telling innocent lies is that one pulls another. You can’t back down. You dig deeper and deeper, as long as no one discovers the truth.”

“Cherry Crush” is the first part of the “The Chocolate Box Girls” series Each of the Cherry sisters will live to see their own story (at least that’s the plan). Each of Catherine’s daughters is completely different and it would be interesting to read their stories, but will I wait for them impatiently… Not really.

It’s not that I didn’t like this book, because I think it’s very good. Cathy Cassidy has presented the problem of the two families being reunited very well and I think she’s completely exhausted. Nowadays, these patchwork creatures are coming up more and more often. I’m glad that the author of books for young people has taken up the subject and that she has described it in such a cool and very accessible way.

Cherry is a very nice teenager. But sometimes when I was reading, I felt like shouting at her to stop making up. It was because of her failure to tell the truth that all her problems came to her. On the other hand, however, this behavior can be explained because she did not have an easy childhood and wanted to make up for certain shortcomings with these stories.

To sum up, “Cherry Crush” is a very well-constructed novel that deals with an important and current topic concerning patchwork families. I recommend it mainly to people under twenty but not only. People from other age groups can also find something for themselves here.

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