Title: Killing God
Author: Kevin Brooks
Release Date: 25th June 2009
Publisher: Penguin
Dawn Bundy is fifteen. She doesn’t fit in and she couldn’t care less.
Dawn has other things on her mind. Her dad disappeared two years ago and it’s all God’s fault.
When Dawn’s dad found God, it was the worst time ever. He thought he’d found the answer to everything.
But that wasn’t the end of it . . .
This is definitely a strange yet captivating read. Dawn, a fifteen year old girl, is an outcast at school, labelled a ‘lesbo’ and her home life isn’t much better. Two years ago, Dawn’s Dad disappeared and since then she has had to deal with the consequences. Her Mum has become alcohol dependent and Dawn has to run the household on a day to day basis.
Dawn’s respite is spent with her dogs, Jesus and Mary and listening to her favourite band, the Jesus and Mary Chain. While Dawn’s feelings are portrayed through a first person narrative with brutal honesty, we find out there are two sides to her character. The strong, fifteen year old Dawn who brushes aside the name calling and gets on with caring for her Mum and the younger, thirteen year old Dawn who lives inside a cave in her head and occasionally peers out through her older self’s eyes. While at times confusing, with a plot that veers off course and flashes back to the past, the novel is darkly chilling.
Beginning as a comedy with Dawn’s unsuccessful attempt to find hidden messages within snail shells, it becomes increasingly apparent that something awful has happened in her past which keeps the thirteen year old Dawn trapped. As the novel progresses Dawn’s character changes, drifting away from internal reflection to social interaction.
At the end, Dawn finds herself in a more difficult situation. However, despite this and the challenges both her and her Mum are about to face, for the first time in the story, they pull together and Dawn finally becomes whole again, ‘there’s no one in my head but me’.
I certainly wouldn’t advise you to read this book if you are after something light. I was surprised by the content of the novel after reading the blurb and what seems to be a hilarious and I would suggest misleading title. Some elements contain typical teenage ramblings, Dawn is not bothered by how she is perceived by the outside world and yet on another level, she is. She has a friend, Splodge who I felt I wanted to get to know more but as we often do with our friends, he is taken for granted. However, Dawn is dealing with more than we ever know and at times her disturbed frame of mind leaks into her everyday actions. Overall, this book is definitely worth a read if you want to explore the darker side of young adult literature.
4.5/5 Disturbingly dark and unusual
"Disturbingly dark and unusual" nuff said, must read this
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