That is where You Against Me shines, there is no outright evil villain here to hate. I felt revulsion, fear, anger, pity, compassion, and not necessarily for the characters you would expect either. I was quickly caught up in the book and my emotions were all over the place while reading. Downham shows us how both families are completely torn apart. In situations such as this, no one tends to care very much, if at all, of the impact of an allegation on the accuser’s family and how they are left to cope with the aftermath. And the devastating effects on not only the victim and their family, but also on the accused family – a point of view we rarely consider, or hear much about. You Against Me is about an alleged sexual assault. Yes – Mikey and Ellie are drawn to one another and we see their relationship evolve throughout the story, but that isn’t what You Against Me is primarily about. This isn’t a romance, but it is about love. You Against Me is very much a character driven book – and Downham’s characters, every single one, are exceptionally well written. As it’s almost impossible to write a review about You Against Me without giving too much away, I’m going to keep this one relatively short. You don’t need to know much more than is on the cover. I went into this not knowing very much about it – and I think that is probably best for a book like this. I’ve been wanting to read this for ages and I’m very glad I finally did.

You Against Me is a powerful and moving story. It’s a book about loyalty and the choices that come with it. Brave and unflinching, this is a novel of extraordinary skillfulness and almost unbearable tension. When Mikey and Ellie meet, two worlds collide. When Ellie’s brother is charged with the crime, but says he didn’t do it, her world of revision, exams and fitting in at a new school begins to unravel. Isn’t that what families do? When Mikey’s sister claims a boy assaulted her at a party, his world of work and girls begins to fall apart.

‘If someone hurts your sister and you’re any kind of man, you seek revenge, right? If your brother’s been accused of a terrible crime and you’re the main witness, then you banish all doubt and defend him.

You against me book