You, Only/Du, bara

 “Frank, this is my little brother John.” 

He looks up, watches me. 

I hold my breath. 

His eyes sparkle. Black like a night ocean just struck by lightning. Without letting go of my eyes he stands up, smiles and holds out his hand. I take two steps forward and grab it. His palm is cool. 

“Hi John.” 

You, Only is a romantic and heart-wrenching story about sixteen-year-old John who falls in love with Frank, who is two years older. Unfortunately, Frank is already taken, by John’s big sister Caroline. And Caroline is used to getting what she wants. John is used to backing off. This time he won’t. Besides, Frank has a will of his own. And he’s dragging a broken heart around, which complicates things. 

It is also about a best friend, a boat house, a paper store, a roof top with a view of all of Uppsala, Nick Drake, The Catcher in the Rye, a thousand paper cranes and garden roses from Svartbäcken. And also, a fair amount of sex. 

You, Only is a painfully honest and beautiful debut novel about how love does what it wants.