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A review by chluless
Concentr8 by William Sutcliffe
2.0
It's a shame that I don't have much to say, because this book had so much potential. It could have been excellent, instead I found it mildly interesting. 'Concentr8' is a book to pass the time with when it could have been so much better.
I understand the idea behind the book, pills given out to keep troublesome children quiet to benefit teachers and parents. A political scandal and motives to drug children disguised as medicine. A hostage situation which turns into a revelation from a Journalist to expose the truth, however the execution of the idea could have been much better.
The majority of the novel was pointless rambling in the heads of badly written troubled teens. The main characters are the stereotypical 'chavvy' London teenagers from a crime ridden, poverty stricken, council estate. Problem is that the portrayal of the teens in my opinion was slightly insulting. They seemed to lack morals, intelligence and basic common sense. What should have been complex and flawed characters were reduced to a single stereotype. Each teen with the exception of Karen, (the only girl) felt too similar.
I do have praise for the Journalist, she was a character who was well written, along with the unredeemable, rude Mayor. I hated him and liked the journalist. Other than those two I had mild concern about Troy and Blaze in the second half of the novel (whose characterisations were slightly different to the other boys).
Unfortunately, the book feels unfinished to me. In my opinion the end was rather abrupt and left me with unanswered questions.
2/5 stars. A promising idea but it did not live up to my expectations. I would be interested in reading more from this author, as I feel that this book didn't show off his skill or writing style.
I understand the idea behind the book, pills given out to keep troublesome children quiet to benefit teachers and parents. A political scandal and motives to drug children disguised as medicine. A hostage situation which turns into a revelation from a Journalist to expose the truth, however the execution of the idea could have been much better.
The majority of the novel was pointless rambling in the heads of badly written troubled teens. The main characters are the stereotypical 'chavvy' London teenagers from a crime ridden, poverty stricken, council estate. Problem is that the portrayal of the teens in my opinion was slightly insulting. They seemed to lack morals, intelligence and basic common sense. What should have been complex and flawed characters were reduced to a single stereotype. Each teen with the exception of Karen, (the only girl) felt too similar.
I do have praise for the Journalist, she was a character who was well written, along with the unredeemable, rude Mayor. I hated him and liked the journalist. Other than those two I had mild concern about Troy and Blaze in the second half of the novel (whose characterisations were slightly different to the other boys).
Unfortunately, the book feels unfinished to me. In my opinion the end was rather abrupt and left me with unanswered questions.
2/5 stars. A promising idea but it did not live up to my expectations. I would be interested in reading more from this author, as I feel that this book didn't show off his skill or writing style.