Sweet-Salty Popcorn

“Romance is the best-selling young adult genre in Germany – and Lena Hach skilfully plays with a wealth of so-called tropes, which she weaves into a fast-paced game of confusion with surprising twists and turns. Fake Dating, Meet Cute, Stuck together, Will they – Won’t they and Friends to Lover are just a few of the stereotypical relationship patterns that the 16-year-old first-person narrator Ruby warns against, which she analyses and into which the characters nevertheless slip. Hach provides them with plenty of wordplay and situation comedy; Ruby, Guillaume and Phil set off fireworks of irony, make dryly sarcastic comments and, despite all their coolness, are still emotionally vulnerable. Readers not only experience the plot from the perspective of the first-person narrator, but also notice on a meta-level how storylines are ‘built’ like a screenplay. It’s almost like a race: Are the readers or Ruby, the reader of the novel, always one step ahead of the progress of the fast-paced story? Especially as Ruby’s mum is also a romance novelist and at some point decides to write about her daughter’s life. The more Ruby makes fun of hackneyed clichés, the more gently they take on a life of their own and only allow for a grand gesture. A page-turner with plenty of humour.” – The Jury of the German-French Children’s Literature Award

“Lena Hach creates a sophisticated and witty love story […]: Cliché and kitsch, fiction and reality are as predictable as they are skilfully intertwined.” – Sonja Kessen, radio 3

“The quick-witted heroine sparkles with irony, and the novel thrives on fast-paced, sometimes hilarious dialogue and slapstick moments.” –Andrea Lüthi, NZZ

“…great reading fun.” – Antje Kunstmann, BRIGITTE

“Lena Hach writes wonderfully original children’s and young adult novels, this one is a gem: an informed satire on a book trend that uses its patterns in a warm-hearted, self-reflective way – it’s a great pleasure to fall for them.” – Kathleen Hildebrand, Süddeutsche Zeitung

“This romance novel sparkles with esprit, irony, humour, lightness, depth with a lot of heart and emotion.” – Alexandra Dasch, Salzburger Nachrichten

“Lena Hach skilfully plays with the usual patterns of romantic comedy. The result is a special kind of young adult title.” – Heike Nieder, Eselsohr

“A turbulent, modern coming-of-age love story” – Heike Nickel-Berg, Der Evangelische Buchberater

“In less than 200 pages, Lena Hach has once again written a captivating novel – with that certain something that really sets some children’s books apart.” – NDR2