Debs is a character I could relate to and her own feelings about her first day at Trinity reminded me very much of my own first day at University when I felt very out of place. As a girl from the country, for Debs, a trip to Dublin was like a new world and to go to Trinity to study was way out of her comfort zone.
To me this is not just a coming-of-age novel, it is an exploration of a young woman battling her own lack of self esteem, a young woman bound to a family with their own issues, a young woman trying to navigate and find her way is this new environment.
I loved the character of her Uncle Billy, with his stories of stars and Greek myths, a man with his own problems who finds solace in a bottle of whisky.
As for the title - 'snowflake' has taken on a whole new meaning these days but I prefer to thing that, like the little white flakes that fall from the sky, Debs is totally unique.
To me this is not just a coming-of-age novel, it is an exploration of a young woman battling her own lack of self esteem, a young woman bound to a family with their own issues, a young woman trying to navigate and find her way is this new environment.
I loved the character of her Uncle Billy, with his stories of stars and Greek myths, a man with his own problems who finds solace in a bottle of whisky.
As for the title - 'snowflake' has taken on a whole new meaning these days but I prefer to thing that, like the little white flakes that fall from the sky, Debs is totally unique.