Bareback is neither [quite] horror nor supernatural fantasy, but more a cautionary tale which echoes The Handmaid's Tale or Nineteen Eighty Four...Her story resonates with real issues of power, responsibility and blame

A gutsy debut...it's hard not to cheer on Whitfield's nerve, especially when her plot, a hard-boiled thriller... rattles along at such a pace

Gritty and original

Extraordinary

An intelligent book and a moving one

Whitfield's debut is a stunning imaginative feat that immerses the reader in a dark, dangerous and entirely believable world

Intriguing...provocative

My quirky favourite of the year, a weird, astonishing book...This first novel, a brilliant start, sinks the teeth in and doesn't open its jaw until the last page

Fresh and beautiful... Take your time reading it... It puts you in that reading bubble, ever sought, not often found

Lola is an outstandingly well-realized central character. We get right inside her head, feeling all her emotions vividly... splendidly entertaining