What do you think?
Rate this book
This Careless Life
Four best friends with perfect lives. A once in a lifetime opportunity. Who can resist the call of fame and fortune?
Liv, Hetty, Jez and Duffy are auditioning for a new reality TV show. Producer Cassandra has warned them the process might be tough, but they are excited and keen to get on with things, confident that they can handle anything.
But when Cass produces a photo of a body, everyone realises that they may have something to hide after all…
Rachel McIntyre is the author of the critically acclaimed young adult novels Me & Mr J and The Number One Rule for Girls. She was inspired by the timeless themes in J B Priestley's classic play An Inspector Calls, and wanted to make them relevant to contemporary teens, the result of which was This Careless Life.
Liv, Hetty, Jez and Duffy are auditioning for a new reality TV show. Producer Cassandra has warned them the process might be tough, but they are excited and keen to get on with things, confident that they can handle anything.
But when Cass produces a photo of a body, everyone realises that they may have something to hide after all…
Rachel McIntyre is the author of the critically acclaimed young adult novels Me & Mr J and The Number One Rule for Girls. She was inspired by the timeless themes in J B Priestley's classic play An Inspector Calls, and wanted to make them relevant to contemporary teens, the result of which was This Careless Life.
272 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2017
3 people are currently reading
75 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 21 of 22 reviews
June 2, 2017
Liv, Hetty, Jez and Duffy are auditioning for a television show, This Careless Life. They are hoping to be chosen and they've got a large part of the casting process behind them already. Liv is confident they will do well and have a great chance to be part of the show. Their meeting with producer Cass is supposed to be a piece of cake, but soon they find out Cass has other plans and isn't going to make things easy for them at all. For This Careless Life you need to be a high school graduate, looking for the summer of your life. Liv, Hetty, Jez and Duffy are confident and ready for an adventure, but are they also ready for what Cass has to show them? Are they prepared to be confronted with the exposure of their darkest secrets just because of a little bit of fame?
This Careless Life is an original story. Liv wants to be famous and she's prepared to go far to become a star. She's rich, overconfident and superficial. Hetty is insecure, very much in love and selfish. Jez thinks he cares about people, but is that actually true or does he love his car more? Duffy likes his image and is a player, he's vain and hasn't got much empathy. These four friends don't think about others and are certain they deserve having the time of their lives, but Cassy has something to show them that will make them think about who they are and what the consequences of their actions will be. I couldn't wait to find out their secrets and discover what she wants them to share with each other. I loved how fascinating this story is and Rachel McIntyre kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time I was reading this book.
This Careless Life is a fantastic book about human nature, trying to maintain a certain image, pretending and dismissing others. It's thought-provoking, entertaining and captivating. I love the way Rachel McIntyre's stories always manage to shock me. They're filled with many unexpected twists and turns, something I truly admire about her writing. This Careless Life is a story about a surprisingly interesting subject. Each scene I read made me wonder, I kept expecting the four teenagers would react a certain way, but the main characters of this story have their own way of dealing with bumps in the road. Finding out where that would lead made me incredibly curious and eager to keep reading. This Careless Life is creative, well written and fascinating. I really enjoyed this unique refreshing story.
This Careless Life is an original story. Liv wants to be famous and she's prepared to go far to become a star. She's rich, overconfident and superficial. Hetty is insecure, very much in love and selfish. Jez thinks he cares about people, but is that actually true or does he love his car more? Duffy likes his image and is a player, he's vain and hasn't got much empathy. These four friends don't think about others and are certain they deserve having the time of their lives, but Cassy has something to show them that will make them think about who they are and what the consequences of their actions will be. I couldn't wait to find out their secrets and discover what she wants them to share with each other. I loved how fascinating this story is and Rachel McIntyre kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time I was reading this book.
This Careless Life is a fantastic book about human nature, trying to maintain a certain image, pretending and dismissing others. It's thought-provoking, entertaining and captivating. I love the way Rachel McIntyre's stories always manage to shock me. They're filled with many unexpected twists and turns, something I truly admire about her writing. This Careless Life is a story about a surprisingly interesting subject. Each scene I read made me wonder, I kept expecting the four teenagers would react a certain way, but the main characters of this story have their own way of dealing with bumps in the road. Finding out where that would lead made me incredibly curious and eager to keep reading. This Careless Life is creative, well written and fascinating. I really enjoyed this unique refreshing story.
June 4, 2017
Honestly, I don't think the book was particularly well written. I didn't find any of the characters particularly likeable either, so the incentive to carry on wasn't high.
Read
August 3, 2017Different than I was expecting, that's for sure.
Link to my Bookish Brits video review: https://youtu.be/61D5HOf8BtM
Link to my Bookish Brits video review: https://youtu.be/61D5HOf8BtM
March 16, 2017
After finishing her A levels, going to prom and stressing over the infamous, 'him' of her story, she is visited by Cass, whom is a TV producer, calling on Liv and her friends, Declan, Hetty and Jez to take part in a new TV show, This Careless Life.
Liv applied to take part after spotting an advert online when she was uploading her latest YouTube tutorial. She comes from a very rich family whom own vast amounts of land and many racehorses.
She didn't know however, her biggest secret was about to be exposed, a picture of a dead girl surrounded by paracetamol packets.
But this starts off a trail, all linked to the four auditioning and linked together they unravel a mystery surrounding this audition.
This book is like a modern inspector call's with added social media influence to expose events. It was a great, intriguing mystery which made it a page turner and gripping!
Thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!
Liv applied to take part after spotting an advert online when she was uploading her latest YouTube tutorial. She comes from a very rich family whom own vast amounts of land and many racehorses.
She didn't know however, her biggest secret was about to be exposed, a picture of a dead girl surrounded by paracetamol packets.
But this starts off a trail, all linked to the four auditioning and linked together they unravel a mystery surrounding this audition.
This book is like a modern inspector call's with added social media influence to expose events. It was a great, intriguing mystery which made it a page turner and gripping!
Thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!
May 9, 2017
This Careless Life takes An Inspector Calls and adds a modern twist. We follow four friends over a dramatic few hours as secrets are revealed and lies unravelled by a mysterious visitor. The characters are all modern day teens who've just finished school. Unfortunately I just didn't get on with any of them. They're all incredibly unlikeable, and their secrets lacked the drama to keep me excited. I may not be the target audience for this, but I enjoy plenty of YA, and this fell flat for me. Best suited to teens looking for something contemporary.
Thanks to NetGalley and Electric Monkey for providing me a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Thanks to NetGalley and Electric Monkey for providing me a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
March 18, 2018
Sadly not one of the most enjoyable books i have read. It's was a quick and easy read which is always good for me when i have 2 little ones but this book just wasn't for me. The characters went likable I found myself hating them right from the moment they were introduced and by the end of the book i hoped each of the characters got what was coming to them. The ending seemed very vague and feel the mystery of what had taken place could have been more captivating.
December 18, 2017
Suffers in comparison to the source material. An Inspector Calls is deft and written with a light touch and this careless life takes everything clever about An Inspector Calls and redraws it with a heavy hand. Having said that I think Rachael McIntyre is a good ya writer and the pace of this book is snappy. As a teacher I could see this appealing to students who are studying the play as a way into the more complex main text.
March 21, 2021
Rachel McIntyre’s standalone YA novel is a heavy-handed morality tale inspired by AN INSPECTOR CALLS with a supernatural twist. Unfortunately the characters are poorly drawn and little more than selfish, rich kid stereotypes, the revelation is pretty easy to guess and the resolution is pretty unsatisfying. Ultimately the book’s just a bit too stiff and leaden for me and as a result I didn’t really enjoy it.
August 22, 2019
I thought this was an excellent idea, replaying the idea of privileged characters who are careless of their impact on others originally set out in “An Inspector Calls”, but updated for today’s teens. So many have to study the play for GCSE, and this provides an excellent foothold for those who may find the play difficult to penetrate.
I will definitely be recommending it.
I will definitely be recommending it.
July 20, 2017
Took me a little while to get into the story, but the first twist got me hooked! Really liked how consequences of the characters' actions are shown and I liked the short time frame the story takes place in.
May 19, 2018
Not great... I didn't really like the melding of genres, but the sentiment and underlying message was good and provides food for thought. I just couldn't connect to the book as well as I'd have liked and the characters felt underdeveloped.
January 5, 2019
I liked it. It just felt like the beginning of a story without a satisfying ending. The characters weren't very likeable and hard to connect with. I wasn't bored while reading it but I didn't necessarily love it. It's not the best but it's enjoyable enough.
November 2, 2017
It's basically An Inspector Calls repackaged for the social media age.
September 9, 2018
This book was pretty bad, not entertaining at all.
November 20, 2022
Pas finit, lu 101 pages. Pas aimé
April 16, 2023
An Inspector calls????
March 19, 2017
First off I have to embarrass myself and mention I knew nothing about An Inspector Calls before reading this book so the comparisons to it went completely over my head.
This Careless Life focuses on Liz who has just finished school at 18 and has a beauty channel. When she sees an advert for a new reality show she ropes in 3 of her friends to apply for it with her. When Cass comes to interview them for it she ends up digging deep into their lives which are all eerily twisted together and we get to see each character isn't what they seem.
It is an incredibly fast paced book and a real quick read. I found myself desperate to read on and discover all the secrets and how they were connected.
This Careless Life focuses on Liz who has just finished school at 18 and has a beauty channel. When she sees an advert for a new reality show she ropes in 3 of her friends to apply for it with her. When Cass comes to interview them for it she ends up digging deep into their lives which are all eerily twisted together and we get to see each character isn't what they seem.
It is an incredibly fast paced book and a real quick read. I found myself desperate to read on and discover all the secrets and how they were connected.
July 15, 2017
didn't hook me in at all. Moving on
February 24, 2017
A thought-provoking title that has a similar plot to Inspector Calls.
This is a quick read (I read it over 24 hours) split into different perspectives of four friends. Liv is the main voice who I found quite annoying and vain but the author has done this on purpose. Her idea is to go on a Reality TV show with her 3 friends to become famous. When someone comes to interview them, it all backfires as each of their deep dark secrets are brought to light.
I really enjoyed some parts whilst others were a bit predictable. I think the characters could be more well-rounded.
This is a quick read (I read it over 24 hours) split into different perspectives of four friends. Liv is the main voice who I found quite annoying and vain but the author has done this on purpose. Her idea is to go on a Reality TV show with her 3 friends to become famous. When someone comes to interview them, it all backfires as each of their deep dark secrets are brought to light.
I really enjoyed some parts whilst others were a bit predictable. I think the characters could be more well-rounded.
January 15, 2018
For review on behalf of Egmont.
To me, An Inspector Calls is a masterpiece: If you're going to retell it, then do it well. Don't do this.
All the magic that could've been brought into this was completely gone. Class was and wasn't the Inspector. The secrets the four characters actually had were nothing to fuss over and a waste of time. And on top of this, the Inspector of sorts actively went and told the characters of the girl using different names, and planted stories into their mouths - the beauty of the Inspector in Priestley's play is that each character works out their connection to the woman in the photo by themselves, and never reveals to them that it's the same woman. They just work it out on their own. Everything that could've made this genuinely compelling was stripped and instead we got a poorly written rebelling that didn't really need to exist.
This Careless Life feels like an attempt to "dumb down" a classic so that audiences get it - maybe the author should've taken notice of the fact that this is one of the best loved GCSE English Literature texts on offer, and in no way does it need to be simplified.
To me, An Inspector Calls is a masterpiece: If you're going to retell it, then do it well. Don't do this.
All the magic that could've been brought into this was completely gone. Class was and wasn't the Inspector. The secrets the four characters actually had were nothing to fuss over and a waste of time. And on top of this, the Inspector of sorts actively went and told the characters of the girl using different names, and planted stories into their mouths - the beauty of the Inspector in Priestley's play is that each character works out their connection to the woman in the photo by themselves, and never reveals to them that it's the same woman. They just work it out on their own. Everything that could've made this genuinely compelling was stripped and instead we got a poorly written rebelling that didn't really need to exist.
This Careless Life feels like an attempt to "dumb down" a classic so that audiences get it - maybe the author should've taken notice of the fact that this is one of the best loved GCSE English Literature texts on offer, and in no way does it need to be simplified.
June 1, 2017
I’m not a big fan of reality tv as it is and after reading “This Careless Life” I’m even less compelled to watch any of it. Liv is portrayed as shallow and vain and I think it’s a fairly accurate picture of how a lot of rich, privileged girls/boys see their life. When she and three of her friends sends an application to an upcoming reality tv show, she see’s this as a way to get on with her life. Away from school or working on the family farms. Liv is used to get whatever she wants, she has money, looks and all she cares about is herself. What she and her friends don’t know is that their darkest secrets will emerge, even if they are buried deep. And when they are confronted with what they did, will they be able to live with it? In the end everything they thought to know is fake and Liv, and her friends, have to face the biggest shock in their life. This was a quick, but very interesting, read and I really enjoyed the book. I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thanks to NetGalley and Egmont Publishing!
Displaying 1 - 21 of 22 reviews