Overthinking by David Fenne

After the events at Grunsby-On-Sea when Steven, Troy, Freya and Marcus managed to defeat the vile Zachary Dent, The Grunsby 4 are ready to get on with their lives. Venturing to London for university, Freya, Troy and Steven are about to experience what life is like without their parents but all is not as it seems. Room mates from hell, mysterious sightings and powers going haywire, the trio are about to be plunged back into the shady history of DEMA.

After reading Overemotional, the first book in the series, I was thirsty for more. What is not to love: a queer main character who is struggling to come to terms with his identity, strange powers that never do what they should and on top of that, the accidental murder of a classmate. Typical teen drama. Overthinking did not disappoint as a sequel, showing how the Grunsby 4 (minus Marcus) are adapting to their new lives in the big city. Steven’s powers are more under control in this book, with him being able to siphon them better when they are getting too much. He is still healing from the trauma of what Dent did to him and is finding talking about what happened very difficult.

Troy is the ever-loving boyfriend that supports Steven no matter what. In Overthinking, more of Troy’s past is brought to light when Steven and himself must have dealings with DEMA, bringing up strong emotions about his time over in America and how the government treated him. Troy acts as a contrast to Steven in Overthinking and really steps up within the group as being the morale compass when things start to get a bit off track. In Overemotional, Troy was more of a side character to support Steven’s journey to self-acceptance but in Overthinking, his role changes. He is more of his own character and is more fleshed out in respects to having his own story running alongside Steven and Freya. I loved reading the growth within Troy as a character and finding his feet away from Steven at times.

Freya is free from her parents and free from Marcus (physically but not emotionally it would seem) so she is ready to become the women she was intended to be. She instantly bonds with her room mates, Rach and Alice, and begins the year as she means to go on: partying like there is no tomorrow. When she is drinking her body weight in shots and vodka, she is wide awake, afraid to sleep for the nightmares of Dent she is having. After being tortured by Dent in Grunsby, Freya is trying to heal from the trauma without the one thing that made her feel safe: Marcus. Things take a turn for the worse for Freya when on her first night at university, she spots a familiar face in the crowd at a house party. A face she never thought she would see again. Zachary Dent. This launches Freya into a frenzy of investigation, leading her down rabbit holes and across London in search of a man she saw die only a few months ago.

Overthinking is the perfect sequel to Overemotional because it highlights how much the friends relied on each other for support. In Grunsby, Steven was alone until Freya, Troy and Marcus showed up. His support network ready to save the day and pick Steven up from his stupor. Freya relied heavily on Marcus because he challenged her and made her a better person. Troy (secretly in love with Steven) was there to lift Steven up when his emotions were feeling too heavy. Together, they made a great team but in Overthinking, David has examined  the question: What would happen if that support was taken away?

As the book progresses, we see the main characters begin to venture down paths that take them away from the comfort of feeling safe, to the fear of an unknown future without each other. Tensions begin to fray between Steven and Freya, each needing the warmth of their friendship but being met with the icy chill of rejection. Troy becomes the go-between and soon realises that something is not right with his best friends but struggles to know how to solve the conundrum of trying to please both parties without taking sides. With new characters like Ruth, Alice, Jenny and Tommy thrown in, emotions begin to run hot and not always in a good way. Can the friends put aside their differences to come together when the going gets tough or is this the end of the Grunsby 4?

The last few chapters of Overthinking answered a lot of questions from the previous book and tied together the whole story arc within both books of the power love has over us and how that can be exploited by those that wish us harm. Although a great ending to Overthinking, the end of the story isn’t the end of the journey. Left reeling by an explosive revelation from their past; Freya, Troy and Steven are now entering the end game. Plans put in motion decades ago are beginning to take hold of the present and deep-seated emotions are bubbling back up to the surface. I cannot wait till Book 3 is released so I can once again be dropped into the world of queer, emotion-wielding young adults who are desperately trying to just be normal for once.