Book Review | The Flywheel by Erin Gough

Title: The Flywheel

Author: Erin Gough

Series or standalone: Standalone

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary

Publication Date: 1st February 2015

Format: Paperback

Source: Publisher (Hardie Grant Egmont)

Goodreads

Seventeen-year-old Delilah’s crazy life is about to get crazier. Ever since her father took off overseas, she’s been struggling to run the family’s cafe without him and survive high school. But after a misjudged crush on one of the cool girls, she's become the school punchline as well. With all that’s on her plate she barely has time for her favourite distraction – spying on the beautiful Rosa, who dances flamenco at the tapas bar across the road.
Only her best friend Charlie knows how she feels about Rosa, but he has romantic problems of his own. When his plan to win an older woman’s heart goes horribly wrong, Del is the only one who can help Charlie stay out of jail. 
All this leaves Del grappling with some seriously curly questions. Is it okay to break the law to help a friend? How can a girl tell another girl she likes her without it ending in humiliation and heartbreak? And – the big one – is it ever truly possible to dance in public without falling over?

Thank you so much to Hardie Grant Egmont for sending this book my way! The Flywheel follows Delilah as she struggles with a lot of things while her father is away on holiday - she is struggling with her sexuality, managing the family cafe, balancing school, bullying and a whole range of other things. I'm so glad more and more books are being released that revolve around LGBTQ characters. It's so important because this is what society is like today and I believe that new literature should definitely reflect that! I also want to mention that this book is a part of a program run by Hardie Grant Egmont called 'The Ampersand Project', where they find YA novels by unpublished writers and publish them. This is their second time doing this and I just want to say that I think it's so great for the publisher to give more opportunities for Australian debut authors! 
I found this book to be really relevant for High School students, as it focuses on some really important topics revolving around friendships, sexuality, bullying, family issues and how different families from varying ethnicities are. It teaches a lot of important lessons and is so realistic and relatable. I think this is one of those books that should definitely be on display in school libraries for teens to read because you never know, it might be exactly what they need to find acceptance in who they are and other answers to certain issues they may be relevant in their lives. 
Personally, there was something lacking for me, and I have a feeling it's to do with my age. A lot of the issues being dealt with in the book were things that aren't relevant for me anymore. I can still appreciate it for what it is though. 
It was a great story with lovely quirky characters and I'd definitely recommend it! I gave it 3.5/5 stars!