ALA Booklist (Mon Feb 01 00:00:00 CST 2016)

Melon got many things from her mother, Maria: Greek heritage, an oft-told family fairy tale, and a ridiculous name. Maria claims that the name is a reminder of her happy childhood on a melon farm in Crete, but Melon, who, like many 15-year-olds, is stuck in the phase of hating her mom, just sees it as another thing that makes her different. But everything upends when Maria is killed by a London bus, leaving Melon, who has never known her father, alone and questioning everything she thought she knew about her mother's past. This debut novel about loss, family, and the way stories change in the telling is a rich portrait of grief and recovery. Melon tells her own story interspersed with her mother's in fractured, chaotic vignettes that circle the day of the accident: 17 days since, 3 days since, 6 years before. As a narrator, she is harsh and abrasive but always sympathetic. Gritty and sad as this may be, it certainly rings true.

Horn Book (Sat Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2017)

When her mother dies suddenly, Melon finds herself alone and angry. The central narrative of her complex grieving process unfolds alongside "The Story" of her mother's past (presented in dreamy interspersed chapters) and Melon's more recent memories of their life together. Despite choppy, sometimes confusing pacing, this ambitious debut poignantly explores grief, memory, family myth, and teen angst.

Voice of Youth Advocates

Fifteen-year-old Melon Fouraki is really sick of hearing "The Story"how her mother was a pregnant teenager forced out of her Greek home, how she fled to London and struggled to support herself and her infant daughter, and how she managed to get an education and become a social worker. If her mother cared for her, why did she name her "Melon," a name that invites taunts, now made even worse by Melon's large breasts? And who and where is her father? Melon struggles at home and in school, finding refuge in her only friend, Chick. Melon is at Chick's house, as usual, when the police arrive to tell her that her mother has been hit by a bus and is dead. What follows is a long narrative in Melon's voice, punctuated with flashbacks, as she deals with her loss, her altered circumstances, and finally, worst of all, the family truth.Although Mayhew's first novel is marketed for young adults, it is more appropriate for adult readers. Red Ink's raw language, emotionally packed descriptions, and convoluted relationships require the level of maturity and understanding that actually surviving the teen years can provide. Family lies and forgiveness are the difficult themes that Mayhew's extraordinary protagonist must master. Readers should be prepared for a rough and painful journey.Laura Woodruff.