Bad Blood by Julie Shaw

Bad Blood by Julie Shaw
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 3 days

Publisher - Harper Element

Pages - 336

Blurb from Goodreads

It’s 1981 and seventeen-year-old Christine is about to give birth to her son. When her family throw her out, Christine has the biggest fight of her life to bring up her son safe on the infamous Canterbury Estate in Bradford, rife with crime, alcohol and drugs, a place where family is everything and nothing.


It's Friday evening on the Canterbury Estate in Bradford and Christine, who's been rushed to hospital by her friend, Josie, is on the maternity ward giving birth. She's 17 and terrified. Not just of the pain, which is ripping her in two, but because she knows that once the baby arrives, her family is never going to speak to her again.


Her beautiful baby boy is about to start a chain of events that will lead to tragedy - and only her own family can save her.


My Review

Christine is seventeen, pregnant, single, it is 1981, if that isn't bad enough the fathers identity, if discovered, will have devastating consequences. With the birth of the baby life as Christine knows it changes forever. From a relatively innocent led life to one of poverty, drugs, addiction, abuse, violence and danger, Christine is forced to grow up quickly, make some tough decisions and learn that all choices come with grave consequences.

Oh this is a hard hitting book, set in estate life where drugs and poverty are rife, Christine has generally been untouched by it all until her life changes when her child is born. Gritty, hard hitting and at times makes for very uncomfortable reading with the subjects that are covered. Racism rears its ugly head, some scenes that would be fitting in trainspotting and the journey of one young woman trying to survive against the odds with her baby.

I have read Shaw before and I would read her again, whilst the subject matter is often hair raising and challenging it reflects true life which isn't always sweetness and light. There is bad language, challenging situations and questionable decisions made by the characters which again mirror reality which I think Shaw has captured well. 4/5 for me this time, thanks so much to the publishers for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review. Bad Blood is available to buy now in paperback and kindle edition.

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