Review of In Bloom by Liz Allen

An urgent and angsty debut about teenage rebellion and hope for a better future. With short, titled chapters it was a whirlwind, a fire cracker, a blaze of a novel.

Told in the first person collective, three teenage girls are obsessed with rock music and believe winning the Battle of the Bands is their ticket out of their shitty coastal town. It’s the mid nineties and Nirvana is blasting through the stereo. All three girls do everything together. They have the same life. None of them have their father’s around so they call themselves The Bastards, but the girls have lost their lead singer, Lily Lucid. She distances herself from the band and has been seen with their music teacher Mr P in a white van which leads to his arrest. The girls are raging, they need their music teacher back. Without a way to get to the Battle of the Bands, their plan is ruined.

An electric look into the lengths adolesent girls will go to for the promise of a bright future despite the dangers of a world which is out to get them. Definitely for fans of The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides and ninties music!

Published on 12.03.2026 by Sceptre

Reviewed by Vic

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