Reviews

Crongton Knights by Alex Wheatle

diana_eveline's review against another edition

4.0

very nice, a lot nicer than I expected. I thought the references to famous series were funny

snoakes7001's review against another edition

5.0

Crongton Knights is about a group of teenagers going on a mission into an estate outside their ends to help a friend.

It's got a strong believable plot and well-defined characters. I've no idea if the speech and slang is how kids really speak, but I don't think that matters. Slang changes over time so it will date anyway, but friendships like these are universal and timeless - as is a good story. Most importantly it's about real people, people who live in council estates and tower blocks, single parent families, families affected by gang violence, genuinely good people (both kids and adults) who sometimes screw up, and some downright rotten ones. It's a world away from the posh kids at boarding school who inhabited all the books I grew up with, and thank heaven for that!

I read and really enjoyed the previous Crongton novel (Liccle Bit). However with this book, Alex Wheatle has really found his YA voice.

ivulikkivulik's review

4.0

4.5/5

It was a little bit hard to get into this book at first but it was a good read.

jiji17's review

3.0

A bit slow at the start and took a while for me to get into but the end was definitely action-packed. Felt a bit odd as the characters and target audience seemed to be middle-grade, but had older language? Not sure for what age I'd recommend it.

deb_reads_books's review

5.0

I've recently started work in the library at a local comprehensive school in mostly white, middle-class suburbia in the South East of England and was pleasantly surprised to discover this on our shelves. I didn't realise it was the middle book in a trilogy until I'd finished the book, delighted to say it stands on its own two feet, I didn't feel I'd missed anything by not reading the first book (however, I shall be checking we own all three, such was the power of this book). It moved me, it shook me and it made me laugh. Somehow, this book, written using street talk I am totally unfamiliar with, set in a fictitious inner city, full of gangs and a culture I am so far removed from, struck a chord deep inside me and that will stay with me for a long time. It proved to me, once again, that the power of words can reach out like a winding rope and wrap around you and reel you in and you don't want to escape, you want more, you want to ride alongside the characters, you want their safety, you want their bonds to include you and you want them to live. Read it.

bettylooksatbooks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

jamadianuk's review

5.0

That momemnt you read a book and you are actually transported to events in your life, this book gave me that moment and I'm happy for it. Mr Wheatle tells the best urban POV out there and never fails to tackle issues of racism/classism/sexisim and appropriate ebonics in a tale going right or wrong. 2nd book in a great series that I will be following for a while I'm sure. I borrowed a copy from the library, but recently brought the series for my local school library.

bookwormbev17's review against another edition

5.0

The first Crongton tale, Liccle Bit, was narrated by the eponymous Lemar 'Liccle Bit' Jackson. Their second outing is told by his friend, McKay Tambo, who is a very different character. For anyone who has not yet read Liccle Bit, (and you really should) McKay starts with a brief prologue giving just enough information to allow the reader to understand the background to the events that follow. Using a different voice obviously offers a new perspective on South Crongton and we also get to know McKay and his family circumstances. His mum has died, and McKay, his brother Nesta and their dad muddle along, trying to cope in their own ways. Meanwhile, Bit asks McKay and their other friend Jonah to join him in retrieving something of importance for a girl, involving a trek across town. Things of course get out of hand and lessons are learned by all. McKay is a warm and funny person to lead us through the mine field of life on the South Crongton estate. I laughed (mostly) and cried (a bit). I'm hoping that this won't be the last visit to South Crongton.
Highly recommended.