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She did shut up. I thought I had her convinced. But later, when she turned over, she mumbled, 'You do so fancy him. You can't fool me, Prudence King.'

I first came upon this in primary school and rooted for Prue the whole time, though the kisses with Rax always made me a tad queasy. Nine years later I wanna call the POLICE, SHE'S LITERALLY FOURTEEN��

ok. Freeze frame. Back track.

To get to the positives first: for me, the teacher/student romance isn't what *I* personally remember this book for. When I was younger I loved the descriptions of art, Prue talking about books, and found her furtive trips to buy lacy underwear in town while she's supposed to be in maths tuition so fun to read. I loved the little snatches of humanity at Wentworth (even though it mostly quite suffers from the make-up slags vs Prue) and how Grace and the mother have better character development lmao. It sucks to be Prue, man.

But I actually did like Prue—she's got every right to be angry with her father, she can't stick the other girls and is so very very bookish. Reading this nine years later and checking out all her literary references makes me think I never could've lasted against her in a readers' trivia when *I* was 14. She feels a little more real to me, being a bit more Tracy Beaker-ish than your usual Jacky Wilson heroine. But her story is executed in a way that is ultimately a bit pointless: Prudence and Rax face minimal consequences for their relationship, the latter TEACHER of which receives only a little slap on the wrist! I know it's Prue who makes the first move, but Rax KISSES HER BACK and tells her, ad verbatim,

'Don't you think I haven't lain awake at night thinking of you, wishing we could be together, fantasizing all sorts of things.'

And Prue, poor Prue, is DELIGHTED to hear her very married-with-children teacher say this. What sort of message is that supposed to give?? I get that Rax is portrayed as a very conflicted person but he still took advantage of and reciprocated the feelings of his VERY UNDERAGE student. AND HOW DO PRUE'S PARENTS NEVER LEARN THAT PRUE WAS EXPELLED FOR THIS? WHAT ABOUT RAX'S WIFE MARIANNE? AND PRUE IS STILL FUCKIN IN LOVE WITH RAX AT THE END AND STILL WALKS PAST HIS HOUSE PRETENDING SHE'S WITH HIM. I can only imagine the cringe later on.

I know the ending is the way it is because Prue is still 14 and in love with him, BUT RAX STILL CAME AROUND TO DRIVE HER OFF AND TO SAY GOODBYE AND SAY THAT HE STILL LOVES HER. I absolutely couldn't stand those times when she starts on all the 1) "is it because I'm 14" and 2) "if I were the same age as your wife" crap because 1) I shouldn't even have to explain this one and 2) NO IT WOULD NOT BE OKAY. I DON'T CARE IF RAX DOESNT KNOW WHAT HE WANTS- spoiler alert, he DOES and it is THE WOMAN HE MARRIED- HE STILL KISSED A 14-YEAR-OLD GIRL BACK. And has PRUE suffer the consequences for it after she feels inclined to PROTECT him. Seeing the bit where the school's headteacher says this makes me beyond furious:

'You should have thought of that before you started acting in this ridiculous and precocious manner. If I were another kind of headteacher I would have Mr Raxberry instantly suspended. There could be a court case. He would not only lose his job, he could find himself in very serious trouble. Did you ever stop to think about that?'

This is literally victim blaming. I WANT that other kind of headteacher.

TL;DR:
In all seriousness and honesty: I love JW, this isn't anything new for her. She's made tackling difficult subjects her whole trademark brand and has done it well most of the time. But I can't help but feel that this story had the potential to be told in a much better way. Yes, it's perfectly normal that Prue had a crush on Rax, but it was not okay for Rax, a wildly older person, furthermore her teacher, to reciprocate her crush. I think Jacky Wilson MEANT to convey that, but with the ending the way it is, I can't help but feel like she neglected this. And thus, the only love lesson I'm taking away from this is:

IT IS NOT OKAY FOR AN ADULT TO RECIPROCATE YOUR CRUSH IF YOU ARE A TEENAGER.

ESPECIALLY IF THEY ARE YOUR TEACHER.