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bbqxaxiu's review
3.0
I started reading this because I love Top Boy and heard somewhere that the creators of that show used this book to do research (?) and I ended up liking it. I appreciated Gabriel’s authenticity, his shedding light on the lives and experiences of “troubled” youth, and his moments of vulnerability. one of the quotes that stuck with me was:
“we carry on eating, the kitchen filled by the sound of cutlery knocking against plates and I’m thinking about Gotti and Kaos and Solo and Yinka and Mama and Tata when it hits me: only love can hurt me.”
how I interpret this scene is that, as someone who has had to go through so much, grow up so quickly, witness—and enact—so much violence, and be a part of the cycles of trauma/death/poverty/drug abuse that are a part of growing up on an estate, he’s had to close his heart off and put on this tough guy act. oh nothing can get to me this, no one’s gonna step to me that. but at the end of the day, it’s still the relationships in his life and those he loves that have the most power over him. I think this is a great way of conveying what I believe to be true about real life, which is that at the end of the day, our relationships are the most important and have the most power to hurt us, sure, but also—and this is my hope for everyone, including Gabriel and others who live his life—to heal us.
my one critique is that in the middle of the book, things felt kind of repetitive. as a reader, it’s not entertaining to read the same scenes of Gabriel smoking, drinking, eating fried chicken, committing crime, having sex, going to jail, going to sleep, having scary dreams, and going to school over and again again. so I felt like some of this could have been scratched.
a good read and I hope to get more from this author soon. good work! all love ❤️❤️
“we carry on eating, the kitchen filled by the sound of cutlery knocking against plates and I’m thinking about Gotti and Kaos and Solo and Yinka and Mama and Tata when it hits me: only love can hurt me.”
how I interpret this scene is that, as someone who has had to go through so much, grow up so quickly, witness—and enact—so much violence, and be a part of the cycles of trauma/death/poverty/drug abuse that are a part of growing up on an estate, he’s had to close his heart off and put on this tough guy act. oh nothing can get to me this, no one’s gonna step to me that. but at the end of the day, it’s still the relationships in his life and those he loves that have the most power over him. I think this is a great way of conveying what I believe to be true about real life, which is that at the end of the day, our relationships are the most important and have the most power to hurt us, sure, but also—and this is my hope for everyone, including Gabriel and others who live his life—to heal us.
my one critique is that in the middle of the book, things felt kind of repetitive. as a reader, it’s not entertaining to read the same scenes of Gabriel smoking, drinking, eating fried chicken, committing crime, having sex, going to jail, going to sleep, having scary dreams, and going to school over and again again. so I felt like some of this could have been scratched.
a good read and I hope to get more from this author soon. good work! all love ❤️❤️
liamwenham's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
senthealarm's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
The author really takes us into his life, it's clear this book is a least a partial snapshot into his former life. Brimming with intensity, it's an intimate read into human nature and we are left with a feeling that the author is not finished with his journey. I really enjoyed this book.
zitasmall's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
4.25
mollyss's review
3.0
Really wanted to love this but found it really really hard to read
Found the slang made it hard to follow at points and although in theory the story should have been gripping I found it quite dark and hard to get through. Really had to force myself to finish it
Found the slang made it hard to follow at points and although in theory the story should have been gripping I found it quite dark and hard to get through. Really had to force myself to finish it
pmrichard1's review against another edition
5.0
Wow really loved. Have had this on my want to read for so long wish I read it sooner!! Didn’t want to put it down, crazy and emotional and difficult to read at times, but extremely eye opening to a side of London I have no idea about and will stick with me.
revwebb's review against another edition
Couldn’t get into the story, wasn’t a fan of the writing style. Cool plot, just couldn’t really get into it.
dylansb's review
2.0
Thought I was going to love this book based on the description - having grown up in inner London myself there was plenty I recognised within the novel, moments, feelings and people and even laughed at in moments that I could relate to or drew out long forgotten memories of being a teenager. However as the book wore on it felt like a bit of a slog, very repetitive, both narratively and stylistically due to the use of MLE, the language wore a bit thin ie. Using batty 5 times in like 2 pages instead of just switching it up to ass or something similar.
Given the novel was based on Krauze’s own life I did not necessarily expect there to be character arcs as life is not a novel or film, however it felt like there was a lack of introspection that would have added a lot more value to the overall book.
There were definitely certainly pieces of writing that I thought were beautifully written and perfectly astute and that’s when this novel shines through, however there just weren’t enough of those and I found this book tough to finish. I’d be interested to see what else krauze produces given this is his first novel
Given the novel was based on Krauze’s own life I did not necessarily expect there to be character arcs as life is not a novel or film, however it felt like there was a lack of introspection that would have added a lot more value to the overall book.
There were definitely certainly pieces of writing that I thought were beautifully written and perfectly astute and that’s when this novel shines through, however there just weren’t enough of those and I found this book tough to finish. I’d be interested to see what else krauze produces given this is his first novel
wintrovia's review
4.0
How much of this story is fiction and how much is autobiography isn't clear to me but it was an interesting insight into London's criminal underbelly. Traditional story structure and morality are not present but that makes it less predictable even if the main character never shows remorse or receives any consequences for their worst actions.