Review - Pansies by Alexis Hall

Alfie Bell, on paper, has everything. A flash London flat, a six-figure salary, and good friends. Going home to South Shields for a wedding, however, throws into relief for Alfie how shallow his life really is. And now that everyone back home knows that he's gay, well, that just adds to the complications.

Alfie expects to grit his teeth through his best friend's wedding, head to London and never return to South Shields again. Fate, however, has other ideas, in the form of Fen. Fen, with his sharp tongue and pink-tipped hair, draws Alfie in straight away. The trouble is, Alfie doesn't remember Fen, but Fen remembers Alfie and the torment he put him through back at school.

Once Alfie realises who Fen is, he wants to try and put things right, and hopefully move on WITH Fen. But there are a lot of obstacles in their way ...

Oh, I liked this. I liked this very much of a lot. Fen, especially is a great character and Alfie is like this blundering, well-meaning Great Dane who still thinks he's a lapdog.

Pansies has more in common with Glitterland (incidentally my all-time favourite Alexis Hall novel) than, say, For Real, and it's just a very, very good read with an awful lot of heart.