Skip to content

When You Lose it by Roxy and Gay Longworth Extract and Discussion Guide

A reading guide plus extract for When You Lose it by Gay Longworth.

About the book

Roxy was 13 years old when she was coerced then blackmailed into sending explicit photos, which were spread around her school. The shame led to self-loathing. The blame led to a psychotic breakdown. Roxy started hearing voices. Then she started seeing things…

What happens when your teenager starts to lose it, and then you lose each other? What happens when you can’t tell your mother you desperately need help? And how can a family move past a devastating mental health crisis?

When You Lose It is a brutally honest true story, written from two perspectives, of consent, coercion and shattering consequences.

News

Discover the Booker Prize with your book club and win the shortlist

This year’s Booker Prize is all about fiction worth talking about, and there’s a lot in these brilliant books to get your book club talking. Discover how tips, recommendations and more from the Booker Prizes to support your book club.

Resources

Book Club Hub - Book Club User Guide

The Book Club Hub is a platform connecting readers and book clubs of all ages across the UK. It is managed by national reading charity, The Reading Agency. The Book Club Hub offers book club leaders access to free offers from publishers and prizes in return for reviews, gives them the chance to read the latest books and author news to help them pick their next read, and allows them to download resources to use with their club. Readers can also share reviews of the books they have read and...

News

Book Club Day UK Reading Well spotlight: books to help you feel better

Looking for a book that will be a good read and do you good at the same time? A Reading Well book could be just what the doctor ordered! Reading Well supports you to understand and manage your health and wellbeing using helpful reading. All Reading Well books are recommended by health experts as well as people with lived experience of the conditions and topics covered. They’re also available to borrow for free from public libraries!

View our other programmes