A high-octane tautly woven thriller by an exciting new voice in young Adult fiction, It's also a touching story about love, loss and friendship. Fans of Sophie McKenzie will love it. Desperately in love, Jonathan is gutted when his girlfriend Freya dumps him. Can Rosalind, the girl he meets on the internet help? And is she who she seems? Jonathan, Freya and Rosalind each tell part of this gripping and edgy nail biter.
Pretty Twisted is narrated in alternating chapters by 16 year old Jonathan and 14 year old Ros. Each have their own problems and challenges facing them and with danger lurking around every corner, their stories become inextricably linked in a way nobody could have predicted...
Ros has a secret crush on Jonathan. Jonathan is massively hung up on Freya (even after she dumps him). And Freya? Well, Freya is a beautiful enigma. Even more so when she goes missing without a trace... Jonathan and Ros meet online at a time when things are going sour for Jonathan. His stunning girlfriend, Freya, is away at college and they are growing apart - consequently, he is struggling with his own sense of identity. Ros is also experiencing some problems - one of her friends is dating an older man whose strange behaviour gives Ros cause for concern. Meanwhile, the local news has been reporting some kidnappings of teenage girls. So when Freya dumps Jonathan, then seems to disappear off the face of the earth, he enlists Ros' (somewhat reluctant) help in tracking down the girl he still loves.
Gina Blaxill wanted to be an author pretty much from day one – she started writing properly when she was eight and hasn’t stopped since. She lives in North London and studied English at Cambridge University, where she specialised in schoolgirl fiction and took part in a lot of musicals. These days she works in schools liaison, helping teenagers figure out the mysteries of higher education. Apart from writing she enjoys drawing comic art and exploring London and has big soft spots for dogs, stately homes and fruit.
Gina wrote Pretty Twisted while stranded in a small village on the Norfolk-Suffolk border without a driving licence. Ros’ side of the story comes from Gina’s own experiences growing up in London (though she never skived off school or got caught up in a police investigation!). Jonathan’s was inspired by the year Gina spent working in Norwich, during which she got an idea for what it might be like growing up in the countryside from the teenagers on her long daily bus rides (this bus service makes an appearance in Pretty Twisted as Jonathan’s “7am zombie bus”).
Her favourite teen authors include Tamora Pierce, Kevin Brooks, Jenny Valentine and Keren David, though her absolute favourite author is the queen of crime, Agatha Christie.
