Always Here For You

Fourteen-year-old Holly Bennett’s best friend Amy has just moved away. Her parents are constantly busy dealing with ‘Gran’s Crisis’ after Holly’s grandad has passed away. She’s lonely, she’s bored, she’s scared Amy has forgotten about her, and she wants a boyfriend. When a girl from school introduces her to Jay, a boy her age online, Holly falls in love fast. He seems perfect, until some of his messages start to sound a little controlling, some of the photos he sends her make her uncomfortable, and the pressure to keep his existence a secret has dangerous consequences.

Always Here For You gently tackles the issues of online grooming in a way that will appeal most to younger teens, despite it being marketed as a YA novel. Because the novel is heavily influenced by topical issues, I feel those who are used to reading YA will perhaps find Holly to be quite young and the message of the novel to be more heavy-handed than they are used to. Halahmy shows how circumstances can create the perfect conditions to put a young teenager at risk of grooming and exposure to paedophilia. Holly is cautious and generally aware of online dangers, but grief over her best friend moving away and loneliness at home created the perfect storm of vulnerability. This is the first time I have read a teen novel about online grooming and it was great to see an example of how personal introductions from peers can legitimise a profile claiming to be someone they’re not. Holly’s new friendships that developed throughout the novel were endearingly supportive and were a positive anchor within a story that dealt with such a heavy issue.

Courtney Smyth