Student follows Alison from Merseyside on the day she gets her A level results to her university finals three years later, with one chapter per term. Alison fights off a sexual assault, loses her virginity, takes drugs, goes to gigs and parties, makes and breaks friendships, and has a near nervous breakdown. Her boyfriend kills himself. There’s little about studying.

This is a raw, intense and truthful novel about late adolescence in an urban setting (contemporary Nottingham), with lyrical moments and a positive note at the end. It’s never exploitative or sensationalist.

David Belbin’s adult Tindal Street Press Bone and Cane topped the Amazon Kindle charts. His follow-up book, What You Don’t Know, was published in January 2012. His Five Leaves’ novel The Pretender has been translated into several languages. David Belbin first made his name as a gritty and worldly writer of books for young adults, featuring issues such as race, loss of virginity, homosexuality and bullying, within a strong and honest narrative.