Driftwood by Cathy Cassidy

Hannah and Joey have been best friends for ever. Joey's parents love rescuing things and making them beautiful - their house is full of things made from driftwood, old glass and shells from the beach. Which is why the scraggy kittens the girls find in a bin at school end up living there. And when Paul moves in as Joey's foster brother, everyone thinks that maybe he needs rescuing too. But nobody knows quite how badly. At first, it's great - Hannah's brother befriends Paul, and the four of them hang out together. But then things start to go wrong. Paul is being bullied. Subtly at first - but quickly it gets dangerous. People aren't like driftwood or abandoned kittens and Hannah doesn't know how to rescue him. Paul doesn't want to be rescued - but with help, he can find a way to save himself.


I was eager to read this book after Cherry Crush, (another of Cassidy's books, which was amazing) and the first half of it was really good. But unfortunately, towards the end I thought it got a bit boring. It was written beautifully, but the story just felt a bit...dull.


The characters were...interesting. I thought my favourite character would have been  Joey because she was quirky and unique, and normally that type of character is my favourite, but almost all of the way through the book, it was Paul, Joey's stepbrother. He was really kind and funny, and I felt terrible for him when he was being bullied. I really just wanted to punch the bullies in the face! (Is that weird?)


Hannah, the protagonist, was...OK. What I've noticed in lots of Cathy Cassidy books, the main character is a little boring. They're all meant to be really creative and exciting etc. etc. and normally that works, but I just wasn't convinced by Hannah.


Kit's brother was one of those, 'I'm so cool now I'm a teenager' (if you know what I mean) kind of people. He was involved in Paul's bullying, and what quite mean to him so I didn't like him at all.


The supporting characters were all realistic, especially the nice art teacher Miss. Quinn and Kit's friends. the mean bullies : / Meanies. I hated them with a passion, which shows great writing. See?  All of the characters contributed to the story and there was no 'useless' characters. You know, those ones that don't do anything and are just there, for no apparent reason? 


I think that the ending felt a bit rushed. I'll admit, it was a good ending, but it practically all happened in the last chapter. I thought it would have been better to wrap it up a bit slower.


I also thought the books storyline started to droop a bit towards the end and become a bit predictable. I had the ending guessed and that's why I'm giving the book 3/5. That's just my opinion, so don't be put off this book just because of me!
I would recommend it to Cathy Cassidy fans, but, if you haven't read anything by her before, don't start with Driftwood. Cathy is a fabulous author so begin by reading my all-time favourite of hers, Cherry Crush. You won't be disappointed!


Source: Borrowed
Paged: 208
Age Group:10+
Official Publication Date:1 September 2005
Publisher: Puffin
Author Website: www.cathycassidy.com