Pay it Forward by M Novak

I really enjoyed this book. It plunges us into Abby’s world as she sets off on her gap year in Mexico—though it doesn’t go as expected. The Travel description element was excellent.  

On the surface, Abby has enviable beauty, but as she navigates the complexities of friendship and jealousy in Mexico City, the story takes a gripping turn. The author skilfully explores the darker side of appearances, unravelling Abby’s internal struggles with paranoia and cynicism. She’s a beautiful girl, and when she tells us this early on in the book, my hackles rose—but then she goes on to show the downside of physical beauty, and how people only look at you surface-deep—and we decide that we do like this character after all.

The narrative keeps readers questioning the line between danger and imagined threats. Abby has her friends, she has her enemies—but which are which? We know she shouldn’t go for that day out—we just know it. And it doesn’t end in Mexico—she starts the new semester, and trouble follows her in. As the story hurtles towards a traumatic conclusion, it leaves readers with the inevitability of Abby’s downward spiral.

I loved the travel element of the book and the thrill of going with Abby as she set up her life in a new country. Good characters and strong storytelling. Excellent.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐