TBGS Readers

The Final Year
I like the way that this book is written in poems but it is a bit hard to follow.

Ernest

Play
Play is a book about the challenges of growing up, and the stories that result. We journey with 4 friends, hearing each of their opinions about the events that are happening, in detail. In my opinion, the opening few chapters could be elaborated on, as they gloss over several years in a very short space of time. In addition to this, in this section, the visual description is quite underdone, meaning that readers may struggle to picture some of the scenes. In the middle of the book, many themes are carefully explored, which is a huge credit to the book, but it does fall into a repetitive cycle of silly decisions followed by consequences, which leads to quite a long read. The ending is superb, however, a beautiful sting in the tail, which successfully and concisely wraps up the preceding events extremely well. Overall: a book that is well written and structured, exploring a wide variety of difficult topics, but could be expanded in places. 8/10

Benjamin

The Final Year
Writing an entire book in the format of a poem is a very unique idea. I found it quite hard to understand but I figured it out in the end. I don't really like that 'you' is replaced with 'ya', and the way of talking throughout. Though I have to say, it's rather good. Very interesting.

Matthew

Play
There's one thing which simply wows me. The story is written from every boys' perspective. This really makes you feel like you know these characters, letting you really immerse yourself in the story. I feel like the swears are a bit piled on, but a really solid storyline and plot. The ending kept me confused for ages! Highly recommend it.

Matthew

King of Nothing
This book was unique and had a flair and sweetness that many other books do not have, the character change was cunning and very enjoyable, watching the young Anton turn from a young gang boy to a wholesome individual. All the characters were very well placed and constructed. However, there was a slight undertone of repetition and was relatively predictable. It is a good book and I was pleased reading though.

Arnold

The Things We Leave Behind
Such a great book with an amazing twist at the end that really made me love it. I am hoping for there to be a sequel.

Ernest