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WORK TITLE: No Filter
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://www.orlaghcollins.com/
CITY: Somerset
STATE:
COUNTRY: United Kingdom
NATIONALITY: Irish
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born September 1975, in Dublin, Ireland; married Alan Maloney; children: Alfie and Mable.
EDUCATION:Attended Dublin City University.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer, film production supervisor. Pathé Films, head of physical production.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Irish author Orlagh Collins has worked in both print and movies. She published her debut novel No Filter for young adult readers in 2018. Before that, she moved from the seaside village of Portmarnock in North County Dublin of her childhood to London to break into the film industry. She worked as a production supervisor on the movies Calendar Girls, Ali G, and Separate Lies, then became head of physical production at Pathé Films, where she supervised production on the Academy Award-winning movie The Queen. In 2007, she co-produced the BIFA Award-winning documentary Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten. Comparing the creative process of both print and film, Collins said in an interview online at Mt Shelf and Myself: “Film-making is a hugely collaborative process, whereas writing is solitary, but both are all about story. Memorable characters shine from both books and movies and unique voices endure long after we’ve closed the pages or left the cinema.”
Set in England and Ireland, No Filter, follows sixteen-year-old Emerald Byrne who pretends on social media that her family life is perfect, when in actuality, her mother is put in rehab for prescription drug addiction and her father is a workaholic. Sent to live with her grandmother on the Irish coast, Emerald adjusts to small town life and falls for the cute teenage songwriter Liam Flynn, who has his own secrets and problems, such as his father’s bankruptcy. The story is told alternating between Emerald and Liam’s points of view as they talk about dates, events, and family troubles. “Though the romance doesn’t offer many surprises, Collins’s voices and setting are vivid and fresh,” noted a writer in Publishers Weekly, who added that the relationship between the teenagers is engaging, and that readers will relate to Emerald’s sense of pain and loss.
With her background in film making, Collins has an eye for Emerald’s teenage angst, according to Voice of Youth Advocates reviewer Katherine Noone. The reviewer added: “Teens will recognize her picture of entrapment by social media and rejoice in Emerald’s liberation from it.” A contributor writing in Kirkus Reviews said that while the plot is familiar territory and Emerald’s social media problems dissipate during the story, “the well-drawn Irish cultural details set it apart, and a late plot twist will take many by surprise.” Calling the story’s resolution unpretentious and enjoyable, Sarah Lorraine commented in School Library Journal: “Readers may find the dialogue hard to follow at first, and there are several scenes of drinking and partying.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, January 15, 2018, review of No Filter.
Publishers Weekly, January 8, 2018, review of No Filter, p. 67.
School Library Journal, December, 2017, Sarah Lorraine, review of No Filter, p. 106.
Voice of Youth Advocates, February, 2018, Katherine Noone, review of No Filter, p. 53.
ONLINE
My Shelf and Myself, https://myshelfandmyself.wordpress.com/ (March 13, 2018), author interview.
Orlagh Collins grew up in the seaside village of Portmarnock in North County Dublin. She left Dublin to break into the film industry in London, working on high profile productions such as Calendar Girls, Ali G, and Separate Lies before taking over as Head of Physical Production at Pathé Films. Whilst at Pathé she supervised production on the Academy Award-winning movie The Queen and a host of others including Mrs Henderson Presents, Millions, and Enduring Love. In 2007, she co-produced the BIFA Award-winning documentary Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten and last year she began to develop comedy-drama Sidelined with the support of the Irish Film Board. Orlagh now lives in Somerset with her partner and their two children. No Filter is her first novel.
Beginner's pluck: Orlagh Collins
Saturday, July 29, 2017
by Sue Leonard
After college in Dublin, Orlagh worked in the production department for various films, then she left for London and worked in the city in IT recruitment.
“I stayed there for 18 months to earn some money, then left to get into films.”
Starting as a Freelance in production managing — on films including Calendar Girls, and Ali G, she then joined Pathé Films as head of physical production. She oversaw many award-winning films, including The Queen.
“The job with Pathé was amazing. It gave me the whole new view of film.”
Orlagh met her husband on the film, Breakfast on Pluto. The couple moved to Ireland for the birth of their children, but now live in Somerset.
“My ambition was always to be in films. I love that still, but I feel so grateful to have found writing, and I want to carry on doing it.”
Who is Orlagh Collins
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Date/place of birth: September 1975 in Dublin.
Education: Portmarnock Community School. Dublin City University; Communications.
Home: Near Bath, Somerset.
Family: Husband Alan Maloney, children Alfie 10, and Mable, 9, and dog, Mildred.
The Day Job: “I did a movie last year, but now, I’m writing fulltime.”
In Another Life: “I think I’d have been a really good undercover private detective.”
Favourite Writers: Anne Enright; Donal Ryan; Roddy Doyle; John Boyne; Caitlin Moran; David Nicholls. And YA writers like John Greene.”
Second Novel: “I’ve delivered it to Bloomsbury. It’s another YA, but is set in Camden Town.”
Top Tip: Accept that nothing is immediately brilliant, and just keep going. And stay true to what excites you.
Website: www.orlaghcollins.com
Twitter: @orlaghcollins
The Debut: No Filter; Bloomsbury, €11.20/Kindle, €7.21
On the surface, 15-year-old Emerald has a perfect life. Popular at school, she is rich and beautiful – and has an enviable boyfriend. But could snapchat be hiding the real story?
When her mother hits a crisis, Emerald is sent from England to her grandmother on the outskirts of Dublin. She’s bereft, until she meets Liam. But can their burgeoning love survive family prejudice?
“Liam and Emerald ignite something in each other. She won’t be subjugated again.”
Marketed as YA, this novel will appeal to adults too.
The Verdict: An emotional tour de force. Louise O’Neill meets Romeo and Juliet.
BORN IN DUBLIN, ORLAGH LEFT IRELAND AFTER UNIVERSITY TO BREAK INTO THE FILM INDUSTRY IN LONDON, WORKING ON PRODUCTIONS SUCH AS CALENDAR GIRLS AND ALI G BEFORE TAKING OVER AS HEAD OF PHYSICAL PRODUCTION AT PATHÉ FILMS, WHERE SHE OVERSAW NUMEROUS AWARD WINNING FILMS INCLUDING THE QUEEN. ORLAGH CO-PRODUCED THE BIFA-WINNING DOCUMENTARY JOE STRUMMER: THE FUTURE IS UNWRITTEN AND THE FORTHCOMING MARY SHELLEY (2018) STARRING ELLE FANNING, DOUGLAS BOOTH AND BEL POWLEY.
ORLAGH LIVES IN SOMERSET WITH HER HUSBAND, THEIR TWO CHILDREN AND MILDRED THEIR DOG. LIKES STRONG COFFEE, 80’S TEEN MOVIES AND SWEARS LIKE A SAILOR.
NO FILTER IS HER FIRST NOVEL.
YA Shot Blog Tour: Interview With Orlagh Collins!
March 13, 2018 ~ myshelfandmyself
Today is my stop on the YA Shot Blog Tour, and I have been looking forward to this for such a long time! Today, I will be sharing an interview with Orlagh Collins, author of No Filter, her stunning debut novel about love, friendships, and switching off from social media. You can read my review of No Filter from a few weeks ago here, and thank you to Orlagh, Bloomsbury, and the wonderful YA Shot media team for making this happen! I am also hosting a giveaway of No Filter over on my Twitter, so make sure to check that out.
1. Three words to describe No Filter?
(Refreshingly) grounded & sweepingly romantic. These are Bloomsbury’s words, but I’ll take ‘em.
2. No Filter is your first novel – what’s been the most exciting part about being a debut author?
Getting published last year was like a gift I never expected. Unlike most writers, I wasn’t writing away for years and it was a whole new world for me. I knew nothing about publishing or indeed the wonderful community of readers and bloggers out there. That said, I’ve always been a reader and adored stories in all their forms. Most exciting of all though has to be having an editor. I feel so lucky to have someone so smart engage with my work with the sole purpose of making it the best it can be. Also, holding a physical copy of your book for the first time, kind of blows the mind. I opened a box of the US hardbacks of No Filter last week and I genuinely gasped!
3. Did you always know No Filter would be set in Ireland?
Yes. I had to write what I knew. I grew up by the sea in very similar village to the one Emerald finds herself in in Dublin and as a debut writer, I needed that crutch of familiarity to write confidently. The Somerset landscapes and the imposing buildings that Emerald’s usually surrounded with in Bath are a direct contrast to the suburban seaside setting where her grandma lives and this opposition is important. In Dublin Emerald spends much of her time at sea, in every sense; either looking out at it or sat on an island in the middle of it. That endless horizon and this sense of limitless possibility was creatively key.
4. What was your favourite scene to write?
Both island scenes. Their first boat trip there is the moment where Emerald’s mask slips and it’s the point, after which nothing is the same for her again. She finally speaks her truth and was heard and supported. When she returns to Grandma’s house she’s been truly changed. I’ve such a clear image of herself and Liam huddled together on those cliffs, listening to the waves lapping about in the dark. The island is inspired by a real place, a private island off the North County Dublin coast, which I was lucky enough to visit it a few years ago. It’s a magical place with extraordinary wildlife. The part about the wallabies is true!
5. A really important part of No Filter is Emerald spending time away from social media – have you ever embarked upon a digital detox?
Regularly. I have to. When you work alone, from home, you have to be disciplined or you can lose hours to it. I enjoy social media. It’s fun and can be such a great way to connect and share ideas, but I do worry that it can stop us from being present. What I also find difficult is its extraordinary skill in diverting our attention away from what we want to be thinking about. I never turn on push notifications, simply because I don’t want my thoughts constantly steered elsewhere. When I have a lot to do, I’ll come off it entirely. Other times, I try to police myself to weekends but I’m not always successful. It can be so compelling!
6. Who were your favourite authors growing up?
As a child, Enid Blyton loomed large. The Magic Faraway Tree was one of the first books I read alone and it introduced the possibility of disappearing to lovely places inside my head. We had a large, illustrated copy of Hans Christian Anderson’s Fairy Tales in our house and I was obsessed with it. The pictures were so twisted and disturbing (like a lot of the text!) but I couldn’t stop looking at them. YA wasn’t such a thing in the late 80’s/early 90’s (I sound ancient now!) but thankfully we did have Judy Blume. I devoured Are you there, God, it’s me Margaret? when I was ten, and the just the right side of slightly-confused for it to feel unforgettably relevant. Margaret talked endlessly of her ‘loafers’ and I remember being desperate to know what they might look like. No Google in them days. I went on to read everything she wrote. I adored all the Brontë sisters, but Wuthering Heights was probably my favourite. I read it first at fifteen and I was captivated by the intense passions of Heathcliff and Cathy. The wild, mysterious Heathcliff hooked onto my teenage mind and my feelings for him were unsettling and fierce. I remember the excitement of reading Roddy Doyle’s The Snapper, The Van and The Commitments for the first time too. It was the language of the Dublin I knew and the dialogue leapt from the page. Of course, the Rabbitte family were hilariously funny, but Doyle’s affection for them was real and you could feel it. James Joyce too, not for any high-brow reasons but because Stephen Dedalus’s super-sensory teen angst in Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man woke me up to the possibility of language. It was the first time I immersed myself in a book just to marvel at the deliciously descriptive arrangements of words.
7. You also make films – the book industry and film industry are very different, but have you found any similarities between the two?
Film-making is a hugely collaborative process, whereas writing is solitary, but both are all about story. Memorable characters shine from both books and movies and unique voices endure long after we’ve closed the pages or left the cinema. You can have the starriest cast and the best CGI but ultimately a film will only deliver if it’s there in the script. Story, story, story.
8. And finally – what’s next for you writing-wise? Any plans for book two?
My (as yet untitled!) second book comes out in March 2019. It’s set in Camden Town in London when 16 year old Vetty (Helvetica), moves back to the flat where she grew up and the story picks up with her reuniting with her childhood friend, Pez, the boy from across the street. It’s about sexual identity, intimacy and friendship. It’s a very different type of love story to No Filter – no romance this time – and I’m really excited about it.
***
Thank you so much again to Orlagh for taking the time to answer my questions, and to Bloomsbury and to Ella from the YA Shot media team for helping to organise it! YA Shot will be taking place on the 14th of April, so if you haven’t yet bought a ticket and wish to you can do so here – I will be going, and it would be lovely to see some familiar faces there!
Which Insta filter does Orlagh Collins identify with?
By Dannii Elle Last updated Jun 25, 2017
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Orlagh Collins is the creative genius behind one of this year’s most beautiful book releases. ‘No Filter’ is the story of Insta addict, Emerald, and what happens when her perfectly filtered existence gets flipped upside down. Emerald’s summer plans were meticulously created – and friendship fall-outs, boy battles, and parental problems were not part of the plan! It has gone from being the summer of her life to the season of woe in only a few short days. But a mysterious boy and some well needed distance might be what she needs to get an unfiltered insight into her own reality.
In between creating the perfect Summer read with the most Instagrammable cover, Orlagh Collins got chatting to us about life behind the book.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BVnQpJvlZs4/?tagged=nofilterbook
Your debut, No Filter, has a gorgeous, pastel-toned cover. What does this tell the reader about the story they are about to uncover?
Not to judge a book by its cover. Like Emerald, the front looks beautiful and uncomplicated, but both first appearances belie something of their depth and complexity. Emerald appears a little superficial at first, whereas really she’s afraid. As the child of an active addict, her self-esteem is fragile and she’s having increasing difficulty juggling the various different versions of herself: the girl she is at school, the girl she needs to be at home and the girl she projects online. A very real family trauma forces her to look at the space in between these selves and while in Dublin, away from the noise, she begins to peel back the layers and discover who she really is. As per the gorgeous cover ‘No Filter’ is a romance, but at its heart there’s another equally important story about a young woman overcoming her feelings of powerlessness and discovering her own voice.
Your protagonist, Emerald, is addicted to social media and has a hard time disconnecting from this filtered unreality. What is your stance on social media?
Social media can be both incredibly positive and crushingly insular. The internet is vast and brilliantly diverse and it offers connection and community for all sorts of exciting groups and ideas. There’s is also a great fun and freedom online to construct the identity we want, to literally curate the best elements of ourselves and present this to the world, which is really cool, but it’s important to remember this is rarely a complete picture. Always presenting our glossiest more ‘filtered’ versions of ourselves can lead to a gulf of expectation between what we share and how we really feel. I think there can be particular augmented loneliness that accompanies social media. In Emerald’s case, rather than help maintaining connection while she is in Dublin, the constant social media updates only compound her feelings of isolation. She needs distance to reconcile these different identities and to build a more robust sense of self. Social media is simply part our lives now and it’s important to find our groove with it. I guess it’s about balance and being present. I’m naturally a very private person and I’m uncomfortable sharing too much of myself so it’s important for me to be true to these instincts. I also think we often get more from being in a moment rather than constantly wanting to record it.
Emerald’s happiness soars when she manages to disconnect herself from the online world. What tech-free pastimes do you enjoy?
Yes, quite early in the novel Emerald has the epiphany that Instagram is making her miserable, and terrifying as it is, she decides to have a break from her online world, which is never a bad thing for our sanity. There are SO many other fun things to than stare at our phones. My background is in film and since I was a child I’ve been obsessed with movies. I watch tonnes. I’m a voting member of BAFTA so I get to watch all the screeners around awards season too, which makes Christmas one of my favourite times of the year. I’ve a particular soft spot for European coming-of-age films and American movies from the 80s, such as The Breakfast Club, Say Anything, Stand By Me and the like. I also love music and I can’t help singing along to whatever I’m listening too. I’ve been known to dance and run too, but neither with much skill or ambition.
Teen girls can be a ferocious lot, as evidenced by Em’s friendship group! What were you like at Emerald’s age?
I lucked out on the friendship front and managed to escape the brunt of any serious bullying or bitchiness. I witnessed it though and certainly saw how devastating it can be. My best friends today are the girls I was in school with and I am enormously grateful for those incredible women. Although there’s no denying their capacity for cruelty, I have huge empathy and admiration for teenage girls. It can be a tough time and I think they’re too easily and too often underestimated.
Emerald and Liam share the sweetest of romances! Which celebrity couplings do you admire?
The celebrity couples I like are the ones who manage to keep their lives and relationships out of the spotlight. It’s the couples we don’t hear about that I deeply respect.
Which one aspect of each of the main character’s personalities do you think the readers will connect with?
Emerald is hard to warm to initially, but over the course of the story we understand her to be one of those people whose vulnerability, although not obvious, is very real. Personally this is something I can relate to and I hope others will too. I love how over the course of the summer, she finds her voice; not in a shouty way, but meaningfully, whereby you know she won’t easily be subjugated again and will never not stand up for what she believes to be right.
Liam is someone who is easy to overlook but to do so would be a real shame. For me he’s the real diamond. He entirely himself and has integrity in spades. He’s had my heart from page one.
The wild, ferocious beauty of nature has an impact on Em, once she learns to disconnect. Was the landscape of the book taken from any real locations?
YES! I grew up in a village very similar to Portstrand, which has an eye-wateringly beautiful beach complete with a concrete shelter and an incredible island opposite it. I spent a lot of time there as a teenager and drew heavily from this.
And where are some of your favourite outdoor places to explore?
We’re lucky enough to live in the gorgeous Somerset countryside and I love walking the dog through the fields around here. I do my best thinking on the move. We also travel a lot and I love cities such as London, LA and New York for their palpable drive where you can almost bite the energy in the air. But having grown up by the sea, nothing grounds me like a walk on the sand. There’s nothing like looking out at an unbroken horizon to make you feel like anything is possible.
Any secrets you can spill about any future projects?
I’m currently working on my second YA book, which is very different love story and set in London this time. I’m also writing a screenplay for ‘No Filter’, which I’m super excited about. As I wrote the book everything was broken down into scenes. It has some incredibly visual sequences and with the right casting I think will make a really moving and memorable movie.
And lastly, for a bit of fun, which Instagram filter sums up your personality?
None, obviously.
Real-talk though; for standard Instagram filters, I’m partial to Clarendon as it immediately lifts and brightens (which makes it sounds like a face cream!) or Gingham, which is nice and nostalgic. I do love an app too and can lose myself for hours fiddling about, but I can also be easily overwhelmed with too much choice!
Collins, Orlagh. No Filter
Katherine Noone
Voice of Youth Advocates. 40.6 (Feb. 2018): p53+.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 E L Kurdyla Publishing LLC
http://www.voya.com
Full Text:
Collins, Orlagh. No Filter. Bloomsbury, March 2018. 368p. $17.99. 978-1-68119-724-1.
4Q * 4P * S
Sixteen-year-old Emerald Byrne has a perfectly edited life on social media, despite some nasty chicanery from her mean-girl friends at her English school. Her filters begin to fail, however, when she discovers her mother unconscious after a suicide attempt. Emerald is packed off--unwillingly--to her grandmother in Ireland while her mother undergoes rehab and her father pursues a court case. Social media only reinforces her sense of isolation. Then, Emerald meets Liam, an aspiring songwriter who has just finished secondary school and whose sensitivity makes him a contemporary version of a courtly lover. He is totally smitten. Their viewpoints are given in alternating chapters, with the sweetness of early romance intensifying into passion. This Romeo and Juliet couple, however, has no idea of how estranged their families are or that Emerald's father has caused Liam's father to go into bankruptcy. When the backstories become clear, the teens must fight for their relationship.
Debut novelist Collins has a career as a production supervisor in the London film industry, and her visual sense is evident in many scenes. Teens will recognize her picture of entrapment by social media and rejoice in Emerald's liberation from it. Cynics may see the way all of Liams problems are resolved as unrealistic, but very few will be able to resist the final image of him outside Emerald's dorm in the snow serenading her. The only issues in assessing the book's popularity are its Anglo-Irish terms and cultural references, which the publisher has promised to Americanize.--Katherine Noone.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Noone, Katherine. "Collins, Orlagh. No Filter." Voice of Youth Advocates, Feb. 2018, p. 53+. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A529357107/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=48767e19. Accessed 27 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A529357107
Collins, Orlagh: NO FILTER
Kirkus Reviews. (Jan. 15, 2018):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Collins, Orlagh NO FILTER Bloomsbury (Children's Fiction) $17.99 3, 6 ISBN: 978-1-68119-724-1
A teen who resuscitates her mother after she almost dies by suicide is packed off for the summer to the seaside in Ireland, where she falls for Liam, who lives there.
Emerald is uneasy with the cruel way her social media-focused friends treat others at their English school, but she's already stretched thin trying to conceal her unhappy home life. Her busy father is constantly away, and though they've been estranged for years from her grandmother for reasons that are unclear to Emerald, it is to her home that her dad brings her when Emerald's mom begins in-patient alcohol treatment. Family tension and secrets abound for both Emerald and Liam, who are both white, and the novel alternates narration between them. The realistic, respectful, and sweet relationship that develops between the pair is sure to appeal to romance fans, and the expectation that Liam feels from his father to abandon his considerable music talent in favor of building management will be easily recognizable to many teens. Though the early theme about the pressures of social media seems to largely disappear after Emerald decides to sign off of her accounts and most elements of this drama are familiar territory, the well-drawn Irish cultural details set it apart, and a late plot twist will take many by surprise.
Overall, a satisfying and romantic debut. (Romance. 14-18)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Collins, Orlagh: NO FILTER." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Jan. 2018. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A522642927/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=7c5dc387. Accessed 27 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A522642927
No Filter
Publishers Weekly. 265.2 (Jan. 8, 2018): p67.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
No Filter
Orlagh Collins. Bloomsbury, $17.99 (320p) ISBN 978-1-68119-724-1
In this touching debut novel from Irish author Collins, British 16-year-old Emerald's problems with family and friends are exacerbated by the social media feeds she can't turn away from. Emerald's mother has just entered rehab for her addition to prescription drugs, and Emerald is sent to stay with her estranged grandmother on the Irish coast for the summer. There, she meets a kind-hearted boy named Liam with family troubles of his own, and the two quickly fall for each other. Told in Emerald and Liam's alternating perspectives, this novel largely focuses on their various dates and other encounters, though Emerald's story drives the narrative and Collins expands the thread of her family worries to include her grandmother and father. Though the romance doesn't offer many surprises, Collins's voices and setting are vivid and fresh, the teens' relationship is engaging, and Liam is a particularly sensitive and devoted love interest. As Emerald watches her friends' lives go on without her online, her visceral sense of pain and loss (and FOMO, really) will resonate with many readers. Ages 14-up. Agent: Marianne Gunn O'Connor. (Mar.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"No Filter." Publishers Weekly, 8 Jan. 2018, p. 67. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A524503061/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=3763c13b. Accessed 27 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A524503061
COLLINS, Orlagh. No Filter
Sarah Lorraine
School Library Journal. 63.12 (Dec. 2017): p106.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
Full Text:
COLLINS, Orlagh. No Filter. 320p. Blooms bury. Mar. 2018. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9781681197241.
Gr 9 Up-As punishment for blowing the whistle on a bullying incident at school, Emerald Byrne is being ostracized by her popular clique, which in Instagram-land means wearing a 24/7 digital target on her back. This seems tragic, until Emerald comes home to find her mother unresponsive with an empty bottle of pills in her hands and real life comes crashing down. Suddenly, she finds herself sentenced to a summer at her grandmother's house in Ireland on a self-imposed exile from social media. An evening beach walk puts Emerald in the path of Liam Flynn, a local boy with family hardships and hidden dreams. As loves grows between these two teens from different worlds, the shared stresses of family responsibilities and the pressure of impending exam results creep in from every direction. Soon, Liam and Emerald must face the devastating facts of their families' shared histories and decide whether they can love one another without a rose-colored filter. Both a coming-of-age story and a romance, this novel weaves together issues of suicide, poverty, unrequited dreams, betrayal, and bullying into a narrative that might seem too ambitious, but is handled well by Collins. The end result is an unpretentious and enjoyable tale set against the unique backdrop of the Northern Irish coast. Readers may find the dialogue hard to follow at first, and there are several scenes of drinking and partying, but the quality of the writing makes it a justifiable addition. VERDICT A good choice for most collections.--Sarah Lorraine, J. Sterling Morton High School, Cicero, IL
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Lorraine, Sarah. "COLLINS, Orlagh. No Filter." School Library Journal, Dec. 2017, p. 106. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A516634104/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=4a7f92f6. Accessed 27 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A516634104
Collins, Orlagh: No Filter
Sam Sinclair
School Librarian. 65.3 (Autumn 2017): p181.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 The School Library Association
http://www.sla.org.uk/school-librarian.php
Full Text:
Collins, Orlagh
No Filter
Bloomsbury, 2017, pp368, 7.99 [pounds sterling]
978 1 4088 8451 5
This debut novel by Orlagh Collins, who previously worked in the film industry, would itself make the perfect teen film. Written in the present with an accessible and descriptive style,
No Filter is highly engaging and would be a great holiday read. No Filter tells the story of Emerald whose perfect life suddenly crumbles around her when she finds her mum unconscious on the floor of the bathroom. Sent to stay with her gran, who lives in a sleepy Irish seaside town, the summer away from her friends seems really bleak for Em. What's even worse is that there is no phone signal or WiFi for social media addict Em and she will have to experience life without a filter, hence the title. However, life looks more promising when she meets Liam. As their relationship develops, inevitably things from the past start to impact on the present and both characters have to think about how to tell the truth to each other--and themselves.
Collins uses a very effective dual narrative technique, Emerald and Liam voice alternate chapters, allowing the reader to really get to know the characters and feel involved in their relationship. And, the fact that Liam is always one chapter behind which keeps the reader's interest and attention. The book should appeal to both boys and girls but due to some sexual and drug references, would be more suitable for Year 9 students upwards.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Sinclair, Sam. "Collins, Orlagh: No Filter." School Librarian, Autumn 2017, p. 181. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A506957468/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=92648669. Accessed 27 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A506957468