Dua Lipa's Service95 Book Club Reveals July Monthly Read: 'Noughts & Crosses' by Malorie Blackman

Dua Lipa’s Service95 Book Club reveals details about July’s Monthly Read: Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman. Noughts & Crosses is the first book in Malorie’s young adult fiction series and depicts a parallel world in which white people – "noughts" – live as second-class citizens in a society run by Black people – "Crosses." The Service95 Book Club will offer exclusive content from Dua and Malorie throughout the month on service95.com and across socials.

“Like many people my age, I was partly raised by Malorie Blackman,” Dua shares. “She creates worlds you want to carry with you and each of her stories encourage young readers to ask the important questions in life. Noughts & Crosses is my absolute favourite of her books. I remember devouring each book in the series as they came out in the early 2000s, desperate for the next instalment. Part of the reason it is so enduring is because while it is written for young adults, it is still a brazenly political read. It was my first step to understanding racism and classism, opening the door for questions that are just starting to form in young minds – which is why I’m so excited to share that it’s my Monthly Read for July. I hope you find it as pacey, romantic, tortured and enlightening as I did.”

In Dua’s interview with Malorie, the pair discuss why it wasn't a book Malorie wanted to write but needed to write, why Malorie takes issue with the book being described as 'dystopian,' and how it's as painfully relevant today as when it was released over 20 years ago. You can watch their full conversation here.

Additionally, readers can check out Malorie’s recommended reading list, her writing soundtrack, and a discussion guide to accompany the book. This month’s context piece comes from award-winning writer and editor Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff on the enduring impact of Noughts & Crosses, and later this month, readers will be able to watch a video from Malorie where she delves into what it was like creating another world for Noughts & Crosses.

Dua’s Service95 Book Club is the latest offering from her Service95 platform, which consists of the At Your Service podcast and the flagship Service95 newsletter. Service95 has been praised by The Guardian as "some of the most thought-provoking short-form cultural writing you can find,” and the podcast has been lauded by The Sunday Times, Vogue and Vulture. In addition, Spotify named it one of the Best Podcasts of 2022, and praised Dua as “an incredibly thoughtful interviewer with a genuine interest in people, social movements, and the arts.”

You can follow Service95 on socials and YouTube to get the latest, and subscribe to the newsletter here to stay in the loop on upcoming monthly reads.

About Malorie Blackman

Malorie Blackman has written over 70 books for children and young adults, including the Noughts & Crosses series. Many of her books have also been adapted for stage and television including a BAFTA-award-winning BBC production of Pig-Heart Boy and a Pilot Theatre stage adaptation by Sabrina Mahfouz of Noughts & Crosses. The major BBC production of Noughts & Crosses was released in 2020, with a soundtrack curated by Roc Nation. In 2005, Malorie received the Eleanor Farjeon Award in recognition of her distinguished contribution to the world of children's books. In 2008 she received an OBE for her services to children’s literature, and between 2013 and 2015 she was the Children’s Laureate. Most recently, Malorie has written for the Doctor Who series on BBC One, and the sixth and final novel in her Noughts & Crosses series, Endgame, was published by Penguin in 2021. Musicians Stormzy and Tinie Tempah both namecheck Malorie in their respective hit singles Superheroes and Written In The Stars – and Blackman’s memoir, Just Sayin’ was published by Merky Books, Stormzy’s Penguin Random House imprint, in 2023

About Dua Lipa

3x GRAMMY and 7x BRIT Award-winning global pop powerhouse Dua Lipa continues to be one of pop music’s leading forces with the release of her third album, Radical Optimism. Upon release, the album went straight to No. 1 in 11 countries, including the UK where it became the biggest album debut from a UK artist in 2024 and garnered the highest week one sales from a UK female artist since 2021. In the US, the album debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart and No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart, marking Dua’s biggest sales week yet. The New York Times named it a Critic’s Pick and hailed it as “an album of nonstop ear candy,” along with Variety, who declared it “a joyous blast of pop savvy,” The New Yorker, who praised, “the instrumentation is a gleaming and impenetrable expanse, and the main attraction is Lipa,” and Vogue, who raved it is “a summery, self-assured slice of pop brilliance…[and] catchy as hell.”

Following its release in 2020, Dua's certified platinum sophomore album Future Nostalgia became the longest running top 10 album by a female artist on the Billboard 200 in 2021. The GRAMMY Award-winning album spawned multiple worldwide hit singles, with “Levitating” earning certified diamond status and the title of Billboard’s No. 1 Hot 100 Song of 2021.

Dua has found superstar status on stage and off, thanks to her many passions outside of music. 2022 saw Dua launch Service95, a global style, culture and society editorial platform that now comprises a weekly newsletter, the Service95 book club and the Dua Lipa: At Your Service podcast, which has been lauded by The Sunday Times and The Guardian, and was named one of the Best Podcasts of 2022 by Spotify. Having graced every major fashion magazine worldwide from Vogue and Elle to W and Dazed, Dua added "designer" to her resume in 2023 when she co-designed Versace's "La Vacanza" collection alongside Donatella Versace herself, which Vogue deemed "the hottest collaboration of the summer."

Dua’s eponymous 2017 debut album is certified platinum, spawned six platinum tracks, and made her the first female artist in BRIT Awards history to pick up five nominations in a single year. Dua has a total of 10 GRAMMY nominations, with three wins for Best Pop Vocal Album, Best New Artist and Best Dance Recording. Additionally, she earned nominations at the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards for her hit song “Dance The Night” from the box office sensation Barbie. Across platforms globally, she has amassed over 42 billion streams and holds the record for being the first female artist to have two albums with over 10 billion streams each on Spotify.

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