When fifteen-year-old Romeo's mother leaves one day and doesn't return, he finds himself homeless and trying to survive on the streets. Mute and terrified, his silence makes him vulnerable, and one night he is beaten by a gang of other kids, only to be rescued by a boy who pledges to take care of him.
Julian is barely two years older than Romeo. A runaway from an abusive home, he has had to make some difficult choices and sells himself on the street to survive. Taking care of Romeo changes him, gives him a purpose in life, gives him hope, and he tries to be strong and keep his troubles with drugs behind him. But living as they do is slowly destroying him, and he begins to doubt he can be strong enough.
This is the story of their struggle to find a way off the streets and stay together at all costs. But when events threaten to tear them apart, it is Romeo who must find the strength within himself to help Julian (and not let their love story turn into a Shakespearean tragedy).
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[THERE'S THIS boy (isn't there always?), this beautiful, glowing creature who makes me feel alive]***
(@HarmonyInkPress, 22 May 2014, first published 22 March 2014, 270 pages, ebook, A Year Of @EpicReads 2019, a book with the word love in the title, copy from @GlasgowLib via @OverDriveLibs)
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This book made me cry, a wet face, snotty kind of sobbing. I love when a book gets to me and unhinges me like that. I was on the verge of tears constantly while reading this. This is a beautiful book that is horrible at times. I don't think I've read a book before where the characters live on the streets. The author exposed me to a world I've never really glimpsed before. I loved Romeo and Julien (the book is a take on Romeo + Juliet in case you didn't know). Romeo is so fragile and thinks Julien is tough. The pain Romeo feels when he realises Julien is even more fragile is heart-wrenching. This is a love story, despite the title, and a great one at that. When Romeo finds out the truth about his mother I couldn't stop crying and was in tears until the end. I adored this book.
