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thereadingrambler's review against another edition
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
barry_x's review against another edition
4.0
Day Boy, whilst not being a contender for my book of the year has certainly become the frontrunner in 'most pleasant surprise' category of 2016 (a 'newly invented' category for my fictitious book awards but what the hell...).
A book about vampires aimed at the Young Adult market really isn't my thing and I have to say I wasn't looking forward to reading this one all that much but I was really pleasantly surprised. This is a very good book indeed.
I think Trent Jamieson has written something really quite special here. 'Day Boy' is set in a post-apocalyptic Australia. Society is run by vampires who hold the human population in their grip. The humans are allowed degrees of freedom and can carry on ordinary lives as long as the vampires can feast on them. In a small outback town called Midland everyone is expected to do their bit to feed the five vampires living in town. The vampires meanwhile continue their decades old feuds with each other.
Vampires, being vampires can still be killed by the sun. Flame too as well as stakes and head chopping when they are at rest. As well as their superhuman power the vampires manage things by using 'Day Boys'. Essentially 'Day Boys' are servants of the vampires. Their role is to mark the homes of the people who will be visited at night for feeding, but they also fulfil a supplementary role of doing the household chores of the people who have been bled the night before. Essentially having a vampire visit leaves you too weak the following day so the Day Boy will pop round and do your jobs for you.
'Day Boy's are effectively apprentices to vampires and the best of them may undergo the change to become a vampire or enter into the human hierarchy of administration that props up the vampire society. The focus of this novel is Mark, the Day Boy of the vampire Dain. What is wonderfully crafted in this book is the status of Day Boys in society. They are clearly of a higher status than other humans, alongside anyone else who keeps the vampire machinery going but at the same time are nowhere near the status of vampires. The individual Day Boy may be treated well or not by their master but they are unequivocally a possession of their master. An attack on a Day Boy is very clearly an attack on the master also. The Day Boys function in human society - conveniently viewed as the dogsbody since other humans have to bleed but although the boys walk around cocksure of their status it's also clear the wider populace view them with hidden disdain. The Day Boys themselves are clearly a separate community from the vampires and the people. They close ranks when they have to but also fight the battles of their masters amongst their selves.
There is actually a shocking level of violence in the book, particularly amongst the Day Boys but in wider society also. On one level the world functions - the vampires rule and the people put up with it. Although their is a sense of a mutually beneficial relationship (there is a nod to a distant past where a cataclysmic event occurred, or a significant conflict) the vampires crush any resistance to their rule quite cruelly and decisively.
The reader is under no uncertain terms that the rule of vampire is cruel and violent. People are cattle and vampirekind has no intention of giving up what they have, menace seethes through every page. The Day Boys are all pawns as part of a wider decades old conspiracy. At the same time this is a novel of tenderness. Mark's relationship with Dain is complex and beautiful. The novel is a 'coming of age novel' - Mark is on the cusp of his future being decided, will he become a vampire or will he enter a life of farming. Everyone, except him views him as a man of significant power.
I really liked the treatment of Mark as a teenage boy - at times he is clearly a man, at others just like a roughhousing boy. He shows the immaturity of a teenager yet also the assuredness of a boy becoming a man. It's a long time since I've enjoyed reading a teenage character who seems like a teenager, rather than a 'young adult'.
I loved the setting, humanity has resorted to a hard working way of life - steam and gunpowder are the limits of technology, I like the nods back to an unknown past too.
What I really liked about the book is it's length. It's quite a short read and Jamieson leaves a lot of questions unanswered. There are a lot of gaps for the reader to fill in for themselves. The gaps however do not detract from the story in any way - there is hardly any exposition or 'tell'. The nuanced writing makes the reader think about the world. Ordinary life is mundane and the Day Boys live a life of drudgery but they also have a life filled with threat and malice.
Excellent read and I would go back to this if the author revisited this setting.
A book about vampires aimed at the Young Adult market really isn't my thing and I have to say I wasn't looking forward to reading this one all that much but I was really pleasantly surprised. This is a very good book indeed.
I think Trent Jamieson has written something really quite special here. 'Day Boy' is set in a post-apocalyptic Australia. Society is run by vampires who hold the human population in their grip. The humans are allowed degrees of freedom and can carry on ordinary lives as long as the vampires can feast on them. In a small outback town called Midland everyone is expected to do their bit to feed the five vampires living in town. The vampires meanwhile continue their decades old feuds with each other.
Vampires, being vampires can still be killed by the sun. Flame too as well as stakes and head chopping when they are at rest. As well as their superhuman power the vampires manage things by using 'Day Boys'. Essentially 'Day Boys' are servants of the vampires. Their role is to mark the homes of the people who will be visited at night for feeding, but they also fulfil a supplementary role of doing the household chores of the people who have been bled the night before. Essentially having a vampire visit leaves you too weak the following day so the Day Boy will pop round and do your jobs for you.
'Day Boy's are effectively apprentices to vampires and the best of them may undergo the change to become a vampire or enter into the human hierarchy of administration that props up the vampire society. The focus of this novel is Mark, the Day Boy of the vampire Dain. What is wonderfully crafted in this book is the status of Day Boys in society. They are clearly of a higher status than other humans, alongside anyone else who keeps the vampire machinery going but at the same time are nowhere near the status of vampires. The individual Day Boy may be treated well or not by their master but they are unequivocally a possession of their master. An attack on a Day Boy is very clearly an attack on the master also. The Day Boys function in human society - conveniently viewed as the dogsbody since other humans have to bleed but although the boys walk around cocksure of their status it's also clear the wider populace view them with hidden disdain. The Day Boys themselves are clearly a separate community from the vampires and the people. They close ranks when they have to but also fight the battles of their masters amongst their selves.
There is actually a shocking level of violence in the book, particularly amongst the Day Boys but in wider society also. On one level the world functions - the vampires rule and the people put up with it. Although their is a sense of a mutually beneficial relationship (there is a nod to a distant past where a cataclysmic event occurred, or a significant conflict) the vampires crush any resistance to their rule quite cruelly and decisively.
The reader is under no uncertain terms that the rule of vampire is cruel and violent. People are cattle and vampirekind has no intention of giving up what they have, menace seethes through every page. The Day Boys are all pawns as part of a wider decades old conspiracy. At the same time this is a novel of tenderness. Mark's relationship with Dain is complex and beautiful. The novel is a 'coming of age novel' - Mark is on the cusp of his future being decided, will he become a vampire or will he enter a life of farming. Everyone, except him views him as a man of significant power.
I really liked the treatment of Mark as a teenage boy - at times he is clearly a man, at others just like a roughhousing boy. He shows the immaturity of a teenager yet also the assuredness of a boy becoming a man. It's a long time since I've enjoyed reading a teenage character who seems like a teenager, rather than a 'young adult'.
I loved the setting, humanity has resorted to a hard working way of life - steam and gunpowder are the limits of technology, I like the nods back to an unknown past too.
What I really liked about the book is it's length. It's quite a short read and Jamieson leaves a lot of questions unanswered. There are a lot of gaps for the reader to fill in for themselves. The gaps however do not detract from the story in any way - there is hardly any exposition or 'tell'. The nuanced writing makes the reader think about the world. Ordinary life is mundane and the Day Boys live a life of drudgery but they also have a life filled with threat and malice.
Excellent read and I would go back to this if the author revisited this setting.
annailles's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Murder, and Child death
rylanslibrary's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I was provided an ARC copy of this book by NetGalley.
5 main categories each of five points for each star— if a category has more than 3 out of five points, I give them the star:
1. World and Atmosphere ✓ (3/5)
2. Characters ✓ (3/5)
3. Plot ✖ (2/5)
4. Writing style/originality ✓ (3/5)
5. Enjoyment ✖ (2.5/5)
In total: 3 stars
1. World and Atmosphere:
This book certainly had an atmosphere, the first person narrative through a boys perspective and his surrounding was painted with great skill. The way the author integrated the bizarre norms for this boy that would not be a normal in our society through his character was done amazingly.
The world, I felt needed a lot more work, with this new atmosphere it needed more layering. There were gaps that were left for the reader to fill, and whilst that I suppose is not bad writing, It is still a gap the author could have used to pen down this new world in much better and needed detail.
There were plot holes about the system like the actual purpose of ‘day boys’ and the monsters ‘rule’. I suppose given that our narrator is a boy, he wouldn’t really pick up on all that in the detailed manner readers would want, but then he is a boy in a new world with new normal standards and next year his life will take a huge turn that is dependent on it — so you would think it is really relevant for him to know all this.
2. Characters:
I think for a normal boy, the writing through Mark’s narration was brilliant. Moments where something dangerous was happening, his narration would get detached as one would need to be in such situations — while other times he would be fully present, and I think intentional or not that was fantastic. All characters told of a history within this world that was super skilled, and most of the times I found Mark to be like a camera running over all these other characters that were most of the times more interesting than Mark himself.
The thinking of a boy, and time flow and his daily manner of looking at life was brilliant, but pretty mundane since it wasn’t the only thing to focus on for a book with such a premise.
I just think stories start with characters at one point of perceiving life and end with that notion has been dismantled. Mark felt like the same person at the beginning and end of the story, which wasn’t really fun to see. I kept needing more from the characters but not getting it.
3. Plot:
We follow Mark through the last year of his time as a day boy. He starts out as someone who gets into trouble, knowing he needs to straighten his act to survive. I would have liked seeing a change in him as the events of the book play out, and I also thought it repetitive and at times flat for such a grand atmosphere and world.
Again, I feel more focus on the world building would have helped the plot out a lot more, we know big events are coming but there is no urgency and no climatic building for it. The events keep playing out as though normal, which for the world it is, and I cannot fault it in that aspect, but for storytelling purposes it is still a very important aspect and it needed work.
4. Writing style:
I thought the author has brilliant writing skills. His style is definitely distinct and beautiful to his self, and I highlighted so much, it was amazing. The writing flows as though water in a river, knowing how to reverberate when and in what manner according to the hurdles brought about. I cannot wait to read more from the author for his writing style alone, and though I have critiqued a lot above, the writing was so captivating I kept on reading regardless when for other books I might not have.
For this genre, this writing is rare, and I appreciated it the most in this book. It made me happy and made me feel inspired, showed me why I read; for good writing. I that was exactly what the author dished out for us readers. This category alone wins over the rest because I’m definitely recommending his writing regardless of any other flaw this book might have.
5. Enjoyment:
If we divide this story into storytelling and writing style, I would say I enjoyed the writing style best, but the story in itself wasn't something I prefer. Hence a solid 2.5 out of 5 for this category. This isn’t to say the story isn’t brilliant in its own way, this point just comes down to preference, and I wouldn't lean towards this kind of story myself since I was expecting something different.
It’s still a great story with great writing and I would recommend reading it all and forming your own opinions!
5 main categories each of five points for each star— if a category has more than 3 out of five points, I give them the star:
1. World and Atmosphere ✓ (3/5)
2. Characters ✓ (3/5)
3. Plot ✖ (2/5)
4. Writing style/originality ✓ (3/5)
5. Enjoyment ✖ (2.5/5)
In total: 3 stars
1. World and Atmosphere:
This book certainly had an atmosphere, the first person narrative through a boys perspective and his surrounding was painted with great skill. The way the author integrated the bizarre norms for this boy that would not be a normal in our society through his character was done amazingly.
The world, I felt needed a lot more work, with this new atmosphere it needed more layering. There were gaps that were left for the reader to fill, and whilst that I suppose is not bad writing, It is still a gap the author could have used to pen down this new world in much better and needed detail.
There were plot holes about the system like the actual purpose of ‘day boys’ and the monsters ‘rule’. I suppose given that our narrator is a boy, he wouldn’t really pick up on all that in the detailed manner readers would want, but then he is a boy in a new world with new normal standards and next year his life will take a huge turn that is dependent on it — so you would think it is really relevant for him to know all this.
2. Characters:
I think for a normal boy, the writing through Mark’s narration was brilliant. Moments where something dangerous was happening, his narration would get detached as one would need to be in such situations — while other times he would be fully present, and I think intentional or not that was fantastic. All characters told of a history within this world that was super skilled, and most of the times I found Mark to be like a camera running over all these other characters that were most of the times more interesting than Mark himself.
The thinking of a boy, and time flow and his daily manner of looking at life was brilliant, but pretty mundane since it wasn’t the only thing to focus on for a book with such a premise.
I just think stories start with characters at one point of perceiving life and end with that notion has been dismantled. Mark felt like the same person at the beginning and end of the story, which wasn’t really fun to see. I kept needing more from the characters but not getting it.
3. Plot:
We follow Mark through the last year of his time as a day boy. He starts out as someone who gets into trouble, knowing he needs to straighten his act to survive. I would have liked seeing a change in him as the events of the book play out, and I also thought it repetitive and at times flat for such a grand atmosphere and world.
Again, I feel more focus on the world building would have helped the plot out a lot more, we know big events are coming but there is no urgency and no climatic building for it. The events keep playing out as though normal, which for the world it is, and I cannot fault it in that aspect, but for storytelling purposes it is still a very important aspect and it needed work.
4. Writing style:
I thought the author has brilliant writing skills. His style is definitely distinct and beautiful to his self, and I highlighted so much, it was amazing. The writing flows as though water in a river, knowing how to reverberate when and in what manner according to the hurdles brought about. I cannot wait to read more from the author for his writing style alone, and though I have critiqued a lot above, the writing was so captivating I kept on reading regardless when for other books I might not have.
For this genre, this writing is rare, and I appreciated it the most in this book. It made me happy and made me feel inspired, showed me why I read; for good writing. I that was exactly what the author dished out for us readers. This category alone wins over the rest because I’m definitely recommending his writing regardless of any other flaw this book might have.
5. Enjoyment:
If we divide this story into storytelling and writing style, I would say I enjoyed the writing style best, but the story in itself wasn't something I prefer. Hence a solid 2.5 out of 5 for this category. This isn’t to say the story isn’t brilliant in its own way, this point just comes down to preference, and I wouldn't lean towards this kind of story myself since I was expecting something different.
It’s still a great story with great writing and I would recommend reading it all and forming your own opinions!
saucytoad's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
maree_k's review against another edition
5.0
Many other reviewers have already expressed the admiration I have for this excellent novel. It's a vampire novel that's not about vampires. A post-apocalyptic novel that's not really post-apocalyptic. A horror novel marked more by empathy and sorrow than gore.
Evocative, gorgeous prose with sentences that capture emotion with a minimum of words, Day Boy is a wonderful read from start to finish that will completely change your mind about what a horror novel can be.
A fantastic book.
Evocative, gorgeous prose with sentences that capture emotion with a minimum of words, Day Boy is a wonderful read from start to finish that will completely change your mind about what a horror novel can be.
A fantastic book.
samsearle's review against another edition
4.0
Vampire myth meets coming-of-age story in this really enjoyable read from a local Brisbane author.
alanbaxter's review against another edition
5.0
I've been a fan of Trent Jamieson for a long time and I'm lucky enough to call him a friend, but even then I was dubious about this book. A vampire story. I'm so over vampire stories. But Jamieson has created something truly brilliant here. The writing is beautiful and powerful, an assurance of voice that's rare and hard to maintain, but he nails it. The mythology of the new world, post-some kind of apocalypse that's never fully explained, is rich and compelling. I have one question that still snags - why are there no female masters? Maybe I'll have to ask Trent one day. But it's not a question that in any way detracts from the book. I loved this and consumed in no time at all. Highly recommended!
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