Review: Who I Am - ML Rice

Review: Who I Am - ML Rice - March 2014

You know those evenings when you're curled up with your Kindle, scrolling aimlessly because nothing quite calls to you? That was exactly where I found myself when I stumbled upon Who I Am by ML Rice. It had that quiet, unassuming quality of a book that isn't shouting for your attention and those, in my experience, are often the ones that end up meaning the most.

The story centres on Devin, a military kid and a bookworm,  honestly, already my kind of character. After losing her father, Devin and her mum pick up and move to the city, the kind of upheaval that would knock anyone sideways. It's there that she meets Melanie Parker, and the two of them click instantly in that lovely, easy way that feels completely real. Best friends from the off. There's just one complication: Mel's twin brother Jason, who makes it his mission from day one to make Devin's school life miserable.

What unfolds over the course of the novel is a coming-of-age story with real teeth to it. Devin and Mel's friendship quietly and naturally deepens into something more, and then everything is thrown into crisis when Jason  raised in a home steeped in homophobia  discovers the truth. What he does next is shocking and brutal, and the consequences fall on both girls in ways that'll sit with you long after the last page.

What I loved most, and I want to really highlight this, is how the F/F relationship is handled. It never once feels like a selling point or a box ticked, it simply feels like life. I was chatting with a friend recently about exactly this: how some books have started leading with their MM or FF content as the headline act, and in doing so, something gets lost. The love feels manufactured rather than felt. Rice doesn't do that. The romance between Devin and Mel grows the way real feelings do slowly, quietly, and completely believably.

If you're looking for a hidden gem with heart, grit, and an F/F love story that earns every moment, Who I Am absolutely deserves a spot on your reading list. A lovely find from a late-night Kindle scroll  and those are always the best kind.

Amazon: www.goodreads.com/book/show/12179970-who-i-am