Large ImageCan't Say I Love You: A mental health romance. A girl with an eating disorder. A boy with Autism. A love story.
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Description
Deep, insightful and moving.
'On the edge of giving up, and coming to the end of his time at a mental-health school, Ben, a teenage student meets Grace, a flawed livewire of devilish intent. She makes Ben feel emotion and see a future. But the world and their dysfunctional families cause barriers to romance and Ben has to fight to find out if what he feels is real.'
Ben hates where he is, hates what he is, and wants to vanish from view. His caustic humour and negative world view are ingrained into his young soul. He has lost his mother, and his own mind makes him an outcast to mainstream schools. He doesn't want to love anything other than his sister and father. He doesn't know he needs to change, he thinks he needs to hide.
But Grace arrives and she changes everything. She speaks to him, makes fun of him, and Ben starts to feel. But Grace has disordered eating. She is at the school for reasons all the kids are there: she doesn't fit in at mainstream. But her smile, the devil she has inside makes Ben want more.
Reader's Reviews.
"I loved this book. Ben is a 15 year old boy who attends a school for children with special needs and who are unable to attend a mainstream school. Ben has an anxiety disorder, depression and mild autism. His mother died when he was 2 and he lives with his father and older sister Jess. Ben is intelligent and articulate when he wants to be but most of the time he coasts through school doing the minimum amount of work necessary so as not to actually fail but not enough to reach what adults persist in calling "his potential". The only person who really 'sees' Ben is his sister Jess, but she has an unconditional place at Oxford university for the coming year and Ben is dreading her leaving. Ben has opinions on everything especially the teachers at school and his fellow students and is not afraid to voice those opinions which don't make him overly popular. Ben is taken to school each day by taxi along with 2 other boys until one day there is another person in the taxi and into his life comes Grace. Grace has serious mental health issues but she is funny and witty and jerks Ben out of his isolation. Unexpectedly Ben and Grace bond, until one disastrous encounter destabilises their relationship. This story is told mostly in Bens voice and is funny, sarcastic, sad, joyful and endearing. I loved Ben and Grace's story and highly recommend it." Laura, Goodreads.
"This was such an interesting take on the process of growing up." Christine, BookSirens.
"This is a coming of age story about two teens, Ben and Grace. It's about the complexities of teen love. It has its funny moments and sad moments too." Diana, Goodreads.
"Quick read with R.M. Hudson's, Can't Say I Love You! My teacher heart loved Ben and his quirks and ways. Finding Grace for him gave him a new prospective on life." Teddie, Booksirens.
"Deep and insightful, moving and funny," Mel, Amazon UK
"I hated the narrator at the start, what an arrogant little man. But come the end I understood him. Beautiful character arc. I shed a tear." Rachel Booksirens.
"I really enjoyed this story, it had me laughing out loud, annoyed with certain characters and even tearing up at parts. I thought it was such a cute and relatable story of being a teen in love. I especially liked Ben's conversations with his mum, getting to know more of what was going on in his brain." Caitlin UK. Booksirens.
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