Reviews

Cop and Robber by Tristan Bancks

andyy_222's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

lawbooks600's review against another edition

4.0

7/10, this was a good novel, but I'm not sure if this is a middle grade or young adult novel, but I enjoyed this one nonetheless. The characters were very interesting, Nash's mother is a police officer, his father is a criminal who didn't have any purpose in life after he was beaten in a boxing match, and thus decided to live a life of crime, and Nash is just caught in the middle of all of this. The story was action packed most of the time, but the pacing can slow down for the main character to interact with other characters, which didn't drag the story down at all. The ending was very emotional, Nash couldn't really forgive himself for trying to help his father rob the school to pay some other criminals until the end, and Nash's mother made a difficult decision to let him rob the school, then let him get arrested, to not get Nash and his father killed. I also liked seeing Nash being a runner, he even won a running race in the end, which was heartwarming. If you like an action packed novel, this is the book for you.

naychapman's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Gun violence

Minor: Car accident

tcmaree's review against another edition

4.0

Unbelievably perfect for reluctant late primary/early high school readers. It's a story that grips you from the start with very few slow points, making it perfect for lower attention spans. I wish there were many more books like this out there!

melbsreads's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Trigger warnings: burglary, violence, car accident

I've enjoyed Tristan Bancks' books in the past - I think he does a really good job of writing middle grade crime/thrillers without them feeling like they're dumbed down or sanitised for their intended audience. And the premise of this one - Nash's mum is a cop and his dad is a criminal - was fantastic. 

I loved that it's set in a bushranging area and that Nash's dad refers to himself as a bushranger. But at the same time, reading this as an adult (especially an adult who works at an elite private school), I...had some issues with it. Starting with the fact that they're taking CASH at the fair, knowing full well they'll end up with around $100,000 in cash. Absolutely wild. 

I also had a lot of thoughts about the fact that his dad

literally makes him an accessory to the left of $100,000 cash from HIS SCHOOL, THE PLACE HE HAS TO GO TO EVERY DAY

. Essentially, I wanted more of the story to be focused on Nash's internal debate about whether to tell someone what we knows, and less on the execution of the crime. You know? 

Still, I'm not the target audience, and the target audience would probably LOVE how the crime plays out. So...there's that.