It's been a few months since I enjoyed a good drama, so I happily

curled up with Jacci Turner's latest offering, Love Virus. And, I must

say, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The threes MCs - Maya, LaRue and

Ashley - are very different and, by the end of the novel, I felt I knew

them well. This story will be many things to many readers - coming-

of-age, finding love, and acceptance.

There were so many aspects to this well-written novel I enjoyed, I

hardly know where to begin. But let's start with the writing style. I've

read a number of books by Jacci Turner over the years (including

the excellent Bending Willow) and always find her writing to be

accessible with excellent flow to it. So much so, you can almost

forget the writing, and simply focus on the story. It just never feels

forced; it never feels as if the author is trying to impress me. She's

simply telling her story. Secondly, I did enjoy getting know the three

central characters, particularly Maya who, I felt, grew the most in the

novel. The author works hard to not only develop her characters, but

also help the reader to get to know them - and her way of doing it is

very clever. A good example of this is - She enjoyed being old

enough to call everyone dear and get away with it. That way, if she

forgot their names it didn't matter. And, thirdly, the author is never

frightened of taking on difficult subjects; and this book, set during

the pandemic, has plenty of those!

'Wishing Shelf' Book Review