A review by parchmentpages92
Dogknife by Liam Rodgers

3.0

I’ll be honest in saying that this book isn’t what I would usually read, but I decided to give it a chance and try it out. Rodgers tells the story from the POV of Gizmo, a 17-year-old girl living in a world of prostitution, drugs and violence in Nottingham, UK in the 90s.

I can’t attest to whether this is a true representation of the way things were in Nottingham in the 90s. I was only a child back then and have never been to Nottingham in my lifetime. However, I do know people from the city so I could imagine how Gizmo would speak and behave. I didn’t know some of slang but it didn’t matter it worked perfectly with the voice of the narrator.

This is an interesting story of drugs, crime and poverty and how one bad decision could change a person life. I believe that Rodgers did a great job writing from a female perspective. It’s a glimpse of the harsh reality of the streets and what the girls did to get by. I did feel that Gizmo needed a reality check sometimes but I also understand that she had a hard life growing up.

I liked Gizmo’s relationship with Boo Boo Girl and how the reason landed in prison was delivering justice to a rapist. She generally cared for Boo Boo Girl and Rodgers highlights that really well in the book. Although I don’t agree with how she went about delivering justice to Henley I can see through her narration how angry she was at the injustice. How he got off because Boo Boo Girl was a prostitute and that was the harsh reality of the justice system.

I do wish I knew more about Boo Boo Girl’s recover but Gizmo wouldn’t know much about it, seeing as she was in prison for the second half of the book. The brutality delivered to the inmates by the officers shocked me, I didn’t realise that sort of thing would happen in prisons.

Overall, this story is well-written and interesting. I would recommend this author to others and I look forward to reading more of his work.