"A joyous read about friendship, self-love, bravery and finding yourself. All wrapped up a gorgeous bow of Summer life and love. This will hit you different. In every delightful way."
Co-written by Love Island star and disability campaigner Tasha Ghouri and the much-loved Lizzie Huxley-Jones, this is a summer star of a story set on the White Island of Ibiza. Huxley-Jones, our current author of the month on LoveReading4Kids is a writer of joyful stories that centre around queerness and disability and it's a perfect pairing.
Cassie is stuck. Treading water in life. In a dead-end relationship and dead-end job. Dancing makes her heart sing but not enough to show anyone her dream. Not enough to share her talent. Her recordings are safely hidden away in the Cloud folder, a folder full of dances she recorded in her bedroom. Or were they?
With a bit of skulduggery by her best friend Pen, the opportunity to dance on tour with the global superstar Rosa Cordova presents itself. It's a world away from her bedroom, a world away from her current life. A life where she doesn't believe in her own talent, a life ruled by her cochlear implant. With a boyfriend who doesn't understand her or believe in her.
How could she possibly do it? Shrugging the weight of the world from her shoulders, ignoring the hyper-visibility that being a deaf dancer on the world stage could bring, Cassie dives right in with her best friend Pen. She comes to realise she can do anything. With a cast full of beautifully diverse characters Hits Different embraces and celebrates difference and I sunk into the pages of this read-in-one-sitting festival of life and love. The holiday vibes wash over you as they do Cassie as she triumphs to overcome all of the obstacles in her way including the discrimination. In work, in life, in love. Oh the love, Levi is the most beautiful soul and you can't help but be sucked in, cheering Cassie and her tribe every step of the way.
Hits Different? Hit me with more please Lizzie and Tasha. I want more.
| Primary Genre | Romance / Relationship Stories |
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A surprisingly enjoyable and thought-provoking read.
Although in many ways this co-authored novel could be seen purely as an easy-to-read story to enjoy as a holiday read, that would fail to capture the more serious, thought-provoking and ‘educational’ themes it incorporates. Very specifically I certainly learnt a lot about what it’s like to live life as a person who is deaf and the life-changing impact, as well as the various associated challenges, of having a cochlear implant fitted. Tasha Gouri’s personal experiences enabled her to create the eminently likeable Cassie, a character whose struggles to overcome these challenges, with the help of caring friends, felt heart-felt and convincing.... Read Full Review
Hits the Spot!
Cassie is passionate about dance, choreographs her own routines, records them on her phone and then squirrels them away. As a cochlear implant wearer she has convinced herself that she cannot dare hope for anything more.
Her adorable, non-binary bestie Pen sets the wheels in motion for Cassie to live her dream.... Read Full Review
