No and Me by Delphine de Vigan

I had heard mixed reviews on this one. Some folks on Booktube loved it, others did not. I can't say that I was actually planning on picking it up, but then, there it was, in good nick, sitting on the third shelf in the second hand book shop I frequent. I had credits to use (having flogged my entire Muchamore series, which will hopefully go to someone in the right demographic to enjoy) so I picked it up! And I am so happy I did.

Lou Bertignac is an exceptionally intelligent girl. She is grades ahead of where she should be in school. For a project for one of her classes, where she needs to do an hour long presentation, she decides to interview a homeless young woman. And I think that is up to chapter 2.

I found this such a compelling read. I completed it in one sitting and, hours later, I was still thinking about all those characters, Lou, No and Lucas, who I met on that short journey.

No and Me is not the happiest story I have read. It covers a lot of sensitive topics, and it does not shy away from reality. This is not a tale of Cinderella. The majority of the characters are suffering - life has that effect on people, but it is through that suffering that three of them (especially) are brought together.

“We can send supersonic planes and rockets into space, and identify a criminal from a hair or a tiny flake of skin, and grow a tomato we can keep in the fridge for three weeks without getting a wrinkle, and store millions of pieces of information on a tiny chip. Yet we're capable of letting people die on the streets.”

― Delphine de Vigan, No and Me

Besides looking at more controversial topics, such as homelessness and social responsibility to do something about it, this book also subtly covers themes of loss, loneliness (in so many different ways), violence and so much more. There are so many things I would actually love to discuss about this here (or anywhere for that matter, but no one I know has read this), but it would just boil down to spoilers. I am starting to regret my unwritten policy to not spoil books for people.

“Before I met No I thought that violence meant shouting and hitting and war and blood. Now I know that there can also be violence in silence and that it’s sometimes invisible to the naked eye. There’s violence in the time that conceals wounds, the relentless succession of days, the impossibility of turning back the clock. Violence is what escapes us. It’s silent and hidden. Violence is what remains inexplicable, what stays forever opaque...”

― Delphine de Vigan, No and Me

I have seen this shelved as YA, but I do not think it is YA at all. Yes, it is a story told through the eyes of a child, but just as Room by Emma Donoghue or To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee are not children's stories, so this one I do not think is YA. There is at least one thing that goes on in this book that Lou is too young to understand, and it is left up to the reader to read between the lines. Although, I suppose YA readers are capable of doing that. It isn't as though they are 11.

I would be ever so curious to know what happens to these characters later. They really seemed real to me while I was reading. They felt like friends.

I gave this 4 stars on Goodreads. I might bump it up to 5, because I know there is material in here to think about for a long time still.