17-year-old Kat Hartland is deeply unimpressed when her mum insists she take her younger sisters to an Unrequited concert. Her sisters are die-hard fans of the world’s most popular boy band, but Kat is miserable at the thought of enduring two hours of music she considers to be overly produced and without substance. Reluctantly setting off to the concert, she has no idea how quickly her entire life is about to change.
First she meets a gorgeous med student on the train to the concert, then a mysterious musician starts writing her notes about a song she is composing, and – to top it all off – Unrequited’s dreamy lead singer Angus Marsden is using Twitter to track her down after noticing her in the concert’s crowd.
All risk-averse Kat wants to do is finish her HSC, focus on her songwriting and get through the last two months of the year without imploding, but with two boys vying for her attention, and someone taking an interest in her musical talents, everything is telling her to be brave, take a leap into the unknown and maybe, just maybe, something incredible will happen.
Kat is a wonderful protagonist – she is an individual, level headed and fiercely independent. Her commitment to her studies and the manner in which she navigates the expectations of her parents with her own dreams will resonate with many of this books readers.
Both love interests are dealing with their own high pressure environments, Med student Joel is struggling with the intensity of med school, and Angus Marsden – a clear substitute for Harry Styles – is feeling the strain of being constantly in the public eye.
Award winning classical musician Sally Whitwell has written songs to accompany the book, which will be fascinating to the more musically inclined readers of Unrequited. Whitwell and Grey clearly worked closely together to develop the music and lyrics and have wonderfully captured the mood and style of today’s pop hits.
Unrequited was written by Emma Grey to coax her One Direction obsessed teenage daughter into reading, and is a truly charming and engaging novel for romantic-at-heart teens. Like all beloved romantic comedies, this tale is packed with missed connections, misunderstandings, love triangles (more than one!) and cases of mistaken identity that will keep readers engrossed until the last page. Perfect for ages 13+ (and all those who are young at heart).
About the Author
Emma Grey is the Canberra-based author of Wits’ End Before Breakfast! Confessions of a Working Mum (2005) and the award-winning I Don’t Have Time, co-authored with Audrey Thomas (2017). Unrequited is her first novel, and the story has inspired the development of a full-length musical, created in collaboration with dual ARIA-winning composer, Sally Whitwell. Emma lives with her daughters, Hannah and Sophie and her son, Sebastian.
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