The set-up girl by Sasha Vey

What a tangled romantic web Sasha Vey weaves! Amalia is trying to set up her best friend Mae with popular heart-throb Kasun, a boy Amalia herself secretly has a crush on, yet at the same time she finds herself captivated by the beautiful Leili . . . and then there is also the enigmatic Jake who strangely causes her heart to flutter.

Vey convincingly portrays the uncertainties and insecurities of the teenage years. Her characters are in their final year of school, but both Amalia and Mae have grown up in the Slovenian community under strict parenting rules: no dating, no drinking, no partying, just focus on study. But the girls are ready to covertly rebel and explore the dating world, including misadventures with alcohol, and much confusion about relationships.

Threaded throughout is an account of Amalia’s experience with her extended family book club. Perhaps the books they read have some pertinence to her life: the blinkered obsession of Moby Dick, match-making Emma, Agatha Christie’s mystery, the passion of Wuthering Heights, and the journey of The Odyssey. The book club episodes add to the whole comedy of errors.

There is so much to enjoy in this book. It’s an honest account of the kinds of mistakes and misunderstandings we’ve all experienced, told with warm-hearted humour. The cover images perfectly capture the romantic scenarios. This debut novel is a delight; hopefully there will be more in this vein from Sasha Vey.

Themes: Romance, Dating, Book clubs, LGBQTI+.

Helen Eddy