Thursday 8 September 2016

YOUNG ADULT REVIEW: Born Scared - Kevin Brooks

Release Date: 08/09/16
Publisher:  

SYNOPSIS:

The much anticipated follow-up title from the multi-award winning author of The Bunker Diary, recipient of the 2014 Carnegie Medal for an outstanding book for young adults.

Elliot is terrified of almost everything.

From the moment he was born, his life has been governed by acute fear. The only thing that keeps his terrors in check are the pills that he takes every day.

It's Christmas Eve, there's a snowstorm and Elliot's medication is almost gone. His mum nips out to collect his prescription. She'll only be 10 minutes - but shen she doesn't come back, Elliot must face his fears and try to find her. She should only be 400 metres away. It might as well be 400 miles...

Born Scared joins the ranks of Jennifer Niven's All the Bright Places, Ned Vizzini's It's Kind of A Funny Story, and Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why as an example of teen fiction offering a frank and intelligent portrait of mental illness.


REVIEW:

I love to try books that are a bit different to the norm and when a subject is tackled by an author that has a unique premise associated with it, I tend to sit up and pay attention. Kevin is an author I’ve read with his adult work but for me, its his YA titles that I've heard more about from friends so when I had this opportunity I ordered it pretty quickly. What Kevin does well in this book is bring the principle character to the fore. Elliot works wonderfully well with his sense of fear leading the tale allowing you to form bonds as some of his fears are quite common amongst all of us. 


Add to this cracking dialogue alongside naturally feeling character development and all round I felt that I was treated to something wonderfully special. Magic.



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