Eirn Lange does a great job of cutting away dated dialogue tags and creates an actual world with little description – it reads like a script. Yet she manages to paint a vivid world that invites you in. I wonder if  her day job, of being a TV producer, that aids her skills in making this such a cool visual read? I just love this book.

Dead Ends is mainly set on the road, with our best friends walking to and from school, walking to the old park, to sheelys house and driving to find Billy D’s dad. It’s full of fighting, swearing, poverty, love, single parents, cars and love, love, love.

Everything in this book fits perfectly. Every word used had a purpose. There is no excess fat.

I even used this book as a sort if litmus test; I’d ask every visitor to read read the first sentence. Just the first sentence. And every time I had to drag the book away from them as they tried to plough through it.

With little exposition, no dialogue tags, Lange has done something magical and I truly feel that she will change the way books are written, for the better.


I’d compare Lange to Meg Rosoff, John Green. Her book will appeal to people who hate filler and action seekers. It’s like lean steak. I skimpily cannot praise Lange’s book enough.

I actually feel honoured that I got an ARC and got to read this book so far ahead of its release in February.

Thank you to Hanna Love and Faber for the ARC.

Now if you will excuse me, I must go and set fire to my WIP, reread Dead Ends, and go with my gut; which always screamed to delete dialogue tags and stage direction and just let the people in my WIP just talk.