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shinesalot's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
alice_digest's review against another edition
2.0
I read The Bunker Diary last year and was blown away by it. What a novel. It left me wanting to read more Kevin Brooks, and this is the one I slightly randomly grabbed off the shelf. This is his first novel, and while it's certainly a strong start, and well written.. I just didn't love it. It was ok. I finished it... at 26 I think I might be a bit too old for this one!
Martyn Pig is the son of an abusive drunk, with an absent mother who abandoned them some time ago. One day he accidentally kills his Dad, and then doesn't call the police. His neighbour Alex helps him deal with the situation.. they realise his Dad recently received a £30,000 inheritance, and things spiral out of control.
There are many reasons I should feel sorry for Martyn but.. I did not like him much. I never warmed to him, and I sort of hated him a little bit towards the end. I definitely didn't care about him.. and I hoped he'd be caught! I think what I objected to was how full of himself and his own intelligence he was, he came across pretty smug. He's also cold. The only bit of emotion you get is his clichéd adoration of Alex - the older, alternative girl in oversized jackets. He is obsessed with detective novels, so perhaps part of this was the typical cool, collected character he was trying to inhabit.. but it didn't do it for me.
In the end.. I was glad that he got what he did! Not as a clever as you think, are you Martyn!
Alex was the average alternative older girl (she's seventeen) cliché, complete with horrible boyfriend on a motorbike. Martyn is constantly referring to how beautiful and wonderful she is, and of course she has no interest in a fourteen year old. I did question why on earth she is helping him cover up his Dad's death.. money or not! Your fourteen year old neighbour has his father's corpse rotting in the front room... Just call the police!
There is a good twist, and it is tightly written. It's the dark kind of material I expected from Brooks but it didn't grab me. It is one of those Young Adult books where the 'teenageryness' of it bugs me.. but fourteen year old Alice would have eaten this up!
Now it's March and I'm going to read just comic books and/or graphic novels! Pretty excited about that.
Martyn Pig is the son of an abusive drunk, with an absent mother who abandoned them some time ago. One day he accidentally kills his Dad, and then doesn't call the police. His neighbour Alex helps him deal with the situation.. they realise his Dad recently received a £30,000 inheritance, and things spiral out of control.
There are many reasons I should feel sorry for Martyn but.. I did not like him much. I never warmed to him, and I sort of hated him a little bit towards the end. I definitely didn't care about him.. and I hoped he'd be caught! I think what I objected to was how full of himself and his own intelligence he was, he came across pretty smug. He's also cold. The only bit of emotion you get is his clichéd adoration of Alex - the older, alternative girl in oversized jackets. He is obsessed with detective novels, so perhaps part of this was the typical cool, collected character he was trying to inhabit.. but it didn't do it for me.
In the end.. I was glad that he got what he did! Not as a clever as you think, are you Martyn!
Alex was the average alternative older girl (she's seventeen) cliché, complete with horrible boyfriend on a motorbike. Martyn is constantly referring to how beautiful and wonderful she is, and of course she has no interest in a fourteen year old. I did question why on earth she is helping him cover up his Dad's death.. money or not! Your fourteen year old neighbour has his father's corpse rotting in the front room... Just call the police!
There is a good twist, and it is tightly written. It's the dark kind of material I expected from Brooks but it didn't grab me. It is one of those Young Adult books where the 'teenageryness' of it bugs me.. but fourteen year old Alice would have eaten this up!
Now it's March and I'm going to read just comic books and/or graphic novels! Pretty excited about that.
yuujie's review against another edition
1.0
Even though there are lots of plot holes in the book, it might have been an interesting exploration of morality, and could be a decent, if not amazing, YA detective mystery. But it was impossible to read it without laughing and/or cringing at the style, which was, I suppose, meant to portray teenager's stream of consciousness, but failed completely. I will include just one quote, that pretty much sums up everything I hated about this book (repetitions, scant language, self-centeredness and naiveté of the main character, etc.)
"She looked down at her feet. 'I'm sorry, Martyn.'
What? What?Sorry? What do you mean, sorry? Sorry? Sorry?
[...]
Something uncontrollable welled up inside me. Like a hurricane. A whirlwind of unwanted emotions. She'd betrayed me. She, Alex. Alex. She'd betrayed me. Me. Can you imagine that? Can you feel it?"
Well, yes, I can imagine that without a problem. But Martyn. It's not Alex who betrayed you. It's your author who made you this clichéd, one-dimensional, babbling shell of a character.
"She looked down at her feet. 'I'm sorry, Martyn.'
What? What?Sorry? What do you mean, sorry? Sorry? Sorry?
[...]
Something uncontrollable welled up inside me. Like a hurricane. A whirlwind of unwanted emotions. She'd betrayed me. She, Alex. Alex. She'd betrayed me. Me. Can you imagine that? Can you feel it?"
Well, yes, I can imagine that without a problem. But Martyn. It's not Alex who betrayed you. It's your author who made you this clichéd, one-dimensional, babbling shell of a character.
jsenior24's review
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
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? No
4.5
amelialouisereads's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I absolutely love YA but it can be a weird experience reading it from the viewpoint of an adult. This book certainly feels very 'teenager-ish' in parts, and I questioned the plausibility of some of the characters and the choices they made at times.
That said, I can't deny that I really enjoyed this story. The way it's written has a 'stream of consciousness' feel about it, which made it incredibly easy to get into. The twists were good and well thought out, it's well paced, and it held my attention throughout.
It's also pretty bleak as YA goes, with the central character Martyn displaying some seriously nihilistic tendencies for such a young character. However I heavily suspect that moody teenage me would have really dug that. Even as an adult, I enjoyed the slightly uneasy 'what's the point?' quality this book has.
That said, I can't deny that I really enjoyed this story. The way it's written has a 'stream of consciousness' feel about it, which made it incredibly easy to get into. The twists were good and well thought out, it's well paced, and it held my attention throughout.
It's also pretty bleak as YA goes, with the central character Martyn displaying some seriously nihilistic tendencies for such a young character. However I heavily suspect that moody teenage me would have really dug that. Even as an adult, I enjoyed the slightly uneasy 'what's the point?' quality this book has.
jade314's review
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
paratuna's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
readingismycopingmechanism's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
3.75
I shouldn’t have liked this book the way I did. The characters are weird but nice in some way, the plot interesting but nothing too special but still I felt a weird attachment to it and I’m kind of sad it’s over.
nina_05's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25