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A review by dunneniamh
Rife: Twenty-One Stories from Britain's Youth by Nikesh Shukla, Sammy Jones
4.0
I was very kindly given an e-arc of this book through Netgalley and Unbound Publishing.
I read a review somewhere which suggested that, because all of these authors were under the age of twenty-five, they weren't good writers. I call BS on that one. The young people who bare their hearts and souls and show the brilliance of their minds are fiercely talented. It makes sense that Shukla, the editor, has collected them together.
In this collection of personal essays, young people reflect on the Britain that we are growing up in. Whether they're talking sexism and casual misogyny, racism, Islamaphobia, homophobia, poor mental health, lack of job opportunities, student debt, an unstable job market, 16 year olds not being able to vote- the topics are intelligent, thoughtful and expertly written. Each writer has their own little twist on the subject, but they all come from a place of personal experience. It adds another dimension to the writing and ensures that we're not hearing from the same voices or same perspectives over and over.
I personally identified with a lot of the work about university life and authors who struggled with their mental health during years that were supposed to be 'the best years of your life'. These are young people ready to talk and demand that they be heard. They are the ones growing into a society that is organized against them. We are angry and in debt and watching a world crumble beneath us because people forty years older than us are making the decisions. There is a running theme of Brexit throughout- it's a running theme of the country, so why wouldn't it be included- but it doesn't become hopeless. If anything, there's an optimism that we can be the generation to change things for the better by acknowledging the key issues now and starting to deal with them.
This is a brilliantly authored snapshot into what it's like to be young in Britain today. I would expect no less from something with Nikesh Shukla's name attached to it.
'Rife: Twenty-One Stories from Britain's Youth', edited by Nikesh Shukla, will be released in the UK on July 11th 2019.
I read a review somewhere which suggested that, because all of these authors were under the age of twenty-five, they weren't good writers. I call BS on that one. The young people who bare their hearts and souls and show the brilliance of their minds are fiercely talented. It makes sense that Shukla, the editor, has collected them together.
In this collection of personal essays, young people reflect on the Britain that we are growing up in. Whether they're talking sexism and casual misogyny, racism, Islamaphobia, homophobia, poor mental health, lack of job opportunities, student debt, an unstable job market, 16 year olds not being able to vote- the topics are intelligent, thoughtful and expertly written. Each writer has their own little twist on the subject, but they all come from a place of personal experience. It adds another dimension to the writing and ensures that we're not hearing from the same voices or same perspectives over and over.
I personally identified with a lot of the work about university life and authors who struggled with their mental health during years that were supposed to be 'the best years of your life'. These are young people ready to talk and demand that they be heard. They are the ones growing into a society that is organized against them. We are angry and in debt and watching a world crumble beneath us because people forty years older than us are making the decisions. There is a running theme of Brexit throughout- it's a running theme of the country, so why wouldn't it be included- but it doesn't become hopeless. If anything, there's an optimism that we can be the generation to change things for the better by acknowledging the key issues now and starting to deal with them.
This is a brilliantly authored snapshot into what it's like to be young in Britain today. I would expect no less from something with Nikesh Shukla's name attached to it.
'Rife: Twenty-One Stories from Britain's Youth', edited by Nikesh Shukla, will be released in the UK on July 11th 2019.