Wendy Howitt

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User pays

It was supposed to be the best party. Ever…. 

User pays - written by Wendy Howitt

I wished I could say I’d done something useful, like call an ambulance or the cops. All I could do was cry, so hard snot ran out, and say over and over, “There’s blood on my dress. My mum’s going to kill me.” I suppose, like everyone else, I was in shock.

Fifteen-year-old Lucy works hard at school, gets on with her parents and has a best friend named Brigitte. Her life is unexciting but it works. It just doesn’t work as well as Natasha’s. Natasha is the coolest girl in school. And one day Natasha’s focus turns to Lucy. She needs Lucy’s help. Lucy needs Natasha’s approval. It’s a perfect match. Until it isn’t. As Lucy starts to adapt her life to suit Natasha, she learns the secret of Natasha’s constant success. Soon Lucy learns to use people just like Natasha. And soon Lucy forgets who she is – the person she was growing up to be.

Until the night of the party.

What is supposed to be the pinnacle of Lucy’s success becomes the price of her new life. A price that turns out to be far too high for anyone to bear. 

Reviews

"Loved User Pays. Within this book I recognised so many of the characters I failed to identify when I was this age. This book really does capture the “making good choices” message we all want our children to hear but are often deaf to. This book can absolutely help teenage girls and boys navigate the trials of teenage-hood whilst being entertained in this page turner. This is the kind of book that the independent schools network could be using in PDHPE as an Australian tool for higher education. Really looking forward to the next instalment."

— Helen

"Reading this wonderful story took me back 45 years to those stormy teenage times. Even though there were some changes from my salad days with the addition of cell phones most of the storylines were pretty much as I had remembered and in going back there I could still feel all the dramas as if they were my current reality. I hope too that young people reading this will be cautioned regarding the lifelong damage that can result when things get out of hand. I recommend this book to oldies like me and especially to young people in the hope that it will give them some guideposts to navigate this turbulent time."

— Kathy on Amazon

"I have finished both Bulletproof and User Pays enjoyed them both immensely. Very funny, very readable but also very - what's the word? - wise. Great characterisations. There were many lines I thought were just perfect - "Nobody was to blame and everyone suffered" - "I was who I was; small, intense, with principles". I’m looking forward to more!"

— Ursula

"While I’m not the target group , I still very much enjoyed this page turner. The author did an excellent job of capturing the tone of young teenagers and reminding us all that nothing much has changed at school. There is always the cool gang and the peripherals who will do or say anything to be accepted. This should be compulsory reading text for school aged children between the ages of 14-16 as a clear reminder of how when we aren’t true to ourselves and lose our ability to do right, things can go horribly wrong."

— Gina

"User Pays is beautifully written and cleverly crafted to encapsulate the conflictions one faces through their transition to adolescence."

— Victoria

"Age old themes of queen bees and wannabes are addressed in this debut novel of Wendy Howitt. I am not the target demographic but I think giving this story to a young teen entering the tricky world of high school could start a very worthwhile conversation about staying true to yourself."

— Kay

available at any of these digital stores

 
 

For a hardcopy of User Pays, go to
BOOK DEPOSITARY, AMAZON OR BOOKTOPIA

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Writer Wendy Howitt survived an all girls’ education where she wrote really bad poetry and plays starring her classmates, some of whom are still friends today. She currently lives in Sydney with one husband, two teenagers and two mini dachshunds. She has written on staff for Vogue Australia, Harper’s Bazaar and Sydney Morning Herald. As a freelancer, her byline has appeared in many publications including Cleo, Inside Out magazine and The Australian Magazine and she has won two beauty journalism awards. She is the author of two young adult books, USER PAYS and BULLETPROOF. Her hobbies include list writing and visiting the library. 

Young Adult FictionEmmanuelle HarringtonUser pays