LoveReading4Kids Says
July 2025 Book of the Month
Previously published as Can I Stray, Jenna Adams’ This is Me Trying packs an immensely thought-provoking punch as it explores big issues around consent, the age of consent, what it means to make informed sexual choices, and the emotional imbalance of age gaps. In fact, a second reading revealed exactly why this was a LoveReading Debut of the Month, and much-deserving of Star Book status — it’s powerfully authentic, honest and nuanced, inviting consideration of questions around culpability and the impact of co-dependency across a page-turning tale of first love, first sex, and coming-of-age through low self-esteem, depression and self-harm to find one’s place in the world.
Told in three acts, across three periods, the stage is set on the literal stage of a school production of Romeo and Juliet, when 14-year-old Brooke and 18-year-old Matt are cast in the lead roles. Naïve, hopelessly romantic and emotionally immature (she is, after all, only 14), Brooke falls for Matt big time, and though he initially cools things down, they wind up having a secret relationship, and sex.
While they try to maintain their relationship when Matt moves away to uni, an excruciating sequence of events spirals out of control, until — with support from good people — Brooke finds a healing way through past traumas.
Balancing hard-hitting impact with emotional sensitivity — a tightrope that’s no easy feat to tread — This is Me Trying is a tremendously powerful novel.
Joanne Owen
Find This Book In
| Suitable For: |
|
| Other Genres: |
|
| Recommendations: |
|
This Is Me Trying Synopsis
In this contemporary coming-of-age YA novel, a teenage girl navigates a romance with an older boy when they're cast as the leading roles in their drama group's production of Romeo and Juliet.
When Brooke and Matt are cast as romantic leads in their drama group's performance of Romeo and Juliet, they don't mean to actually fall in love. Secrets and lies seem a small price for Brooke to pay for an older boyfriend, until they take their relationship to the next level one night in an empty auditorium. After she learns of the illegality of Matt's actions, Brooke's anxiety reaches breaking point and she makes a decision that changes her life forever.
Years later, Matt is reunited with Brooke, desperately seeking redemption. But what sense can they make now of a love that never did run smoothly?
Exploring mental health, co-dependency, and the blurred lines of sexual consent, this captivating debut recounts a young woman's journey to independence as she strays beyond all she has ever known to confront her traumatic past.
Previously published as Can I Stray, this is a serious take on the age-gap romance YA trope, where a 14-year-old girl navigates her first ever relationship with an older 18-year-old boy.
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781917275101 |
| Publication date: |
17th July 2025 |
| Author: |
Jenna Adams |
| Publisher: |
Neem Tree Press |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Pagination: |
432 pages |
| Suitable For: |
|
| Other Genres: |
|
| Recommendations: |
|
About Jenna Adams
Jenna Adams is a London-based author. She began writing at the age of fourteen and now writes from her third-floor flat, which is full of houseplants. She has written for a variety of publications including The Book Network, Brook Charity, and The Content Wolf, and is passionate about exploring mental health, consent, and codependency in her writing.
More About Jenna Adams
