This post contains affiliate links. These links do not cost you money, but if you purchase something after clicking them I get a small fee for sending you there. Despite this the information below is an honest review, if I don't like something I will tell you!

Blue Eyed Boy is a novel from the popular author Joanne Harris, the author of “Chocolat” (turned into a film starring Johnny Depp and Juliette Binoche). As with many of Harris’ books this one is written from several different points of view, the real twist comes from two characters actually writing from four different viewpoints between them.

The story starts with the character “blueeyedboy”, an internet persona who posts on a web journal called a “WeJay”. Each section is started with a box similar to that of an online blog, it notes the author, whether the entry is public or restricted (something you have to check as the story develops otherwise you may become a bit confused), what they are listening to and their mood. Each “public” chapter also ends with comments left by other online personas that follow the WeJay.

Blueyedboy is one of three boys whose mother assigned them different colours in order to make buying clothes for them easier; Nigel the eldest was given black, Brendan was assigned brown, and Benjamin had blue. As the story develops you quickly learn that colour is a major running theme in this story as every person is assigned a name that relates to a colour; “Mrs Electric Blue”, “Emily White”, “Doctor Peacock”. The colours are specific to the development of the character and their persona, for example the name “Emily White” suggests a young girl, the character is around six years old so this fits perfectly. “Doctor Peacock” gives you a vision of an intellectual professor type who collects things and has an old-fashioned mentality. As the book moves on you realise how well these names fit the characters. Blueeyedboy is very much an anti-hero, he’s manipulative and scheming and has little to no empathy. However when you realise just how abusive his mother is you feel a bit of sympathy for him (although it’s sympathy that won’t last long!) and his situation.

The community that “blueeyedboy” posts on is called “BadGuysRock” and it is here that he posts little murder-mystery stories written from his perspective. The other members leave their comments on the stories, and in his restricted entries we learn more about his “fans”; a woman obsessed with her celebrity crush, a troll masquerading as a religious fanatic who insists the author will burn in hell, an overweight girl that yo-yo diets and falls for abusive men, and a commenter whose comments are repeatedly deleted.

The story follows multiple murders, all published as public stories on the web community. It is only through blueeyedboy’s restricted, non-public posts that the connections are made and the real story unravels. About a third of the way in he is joined by “Albertine”, who tells her own side of the tale in a similar way. Her public stories are not about murder, but are instead posted from the view of a small blind child called Emily White, and again they are explained and unravelled through both her private postings and those of blueeyedboy.

Having read quite a lot of Harris’ previous works I’m used to her adept juggling of different viewpoints. However this time I struggled. The use of public and restricted-viewing posts threw me off once or twice, you really do need to read the top of each chapter carefully so you know what you’re meant to be reading. Four different viewpoints is a little too much for one book, especially when you throw in a whole host of additional characters, quite a few of which have names related to the colour blue and thus eventually blur in to one big (blue) blob. It makes for a very good story, but it’s not the kind that you can read when you’re tired and not fully concentrating because you really do need to pay attention to what you’re reading.

However the book does include one of Harris’ usual big twists and that makes it all worthwhile!

I would thoroughly recommend this book to anyone who has read Harris’ previous works. For a new reader however it may not be the best tale to start with, the jump from viewpoints can get a little tiring and if you’re not used to her style of writing (and knowing that sooner or later she’s going to shove in a decent twist that surprises you) then you might end up giving up on the story early on. Stick with it however, the ending will make your spine tingle!

Buy this book from Waterstones.

Review: Nothing to Envy

This post contains affiliate links. These links do not cost you money, but if you purchase something after clicking them I get a small fee for sending you there. Despite this the information below is an honest review, if I don't like something I will tell you!

I bought this book a couple of years ago, and since then I will occasionally go back to reread it, particularly during times when North Korea is in the news. When I originally purchased it I ended up devouring ut within 2 days as I simply couldn't put it down, and each time I reread it I find it just a compelling as that first read.

Background

The author, Barbara Demick, is a journalist for the Los Angeles Times who spent time in South Korea from 2001 onwards. During her time she interviewed North Korean defectors, those who had escaped from the North in to either China or South Korea. Over the years she spoke to over 100 former North Koreans, primarily those from the city of Chongjin.

In the opening to the book she explains that she chose Chongjin as it's further away from the capital Pyongyang. North Korea's capital city is kept as the equivalent of a trade-show to Western tourists, those that live there permanently are smart, attractive, from high-status families or are part of the Workers Party. By choosing former residents of Chongjin, Demick gets a more authentic tale of life in North Korea.

The book

The story focuses on six main "characters" from a diverse range of backgrounds. There's "Mrs Song", who used to be fully dedicated to the Workers Party, Mi-ran the school teacher, Mrs Song's daughter Oak-hee who managed to escape an abusive husband, Jun-sang whose Korean family decided to repatriate from Japan and settle in the North, Hyuck the orphan whose arrest ultimately decides his fate, and Dr Kim whose Chinese-born father leaves her with an invaluable gift. They cover a range of ages and different social classes, for example Mi-ran's father is actually South Korean, a Prisoner of War who was never allowed to leave, while Mrs Song is married to a journalist which makes their family remarkably well-off in the grand scheme of things.

In between all their stories are explanations about the North Korean way of life. You would think that a true socialist society would have no class structure, and yet North Korea's system is worse than the social structure of India, with those on the bottom unable to rise and their children condemned with them. Likewise the economic situation is explained early on, I never knew that after the Korean War, the South was far worse off than the North. Demick also explains the propoganda, the daily indoctrination, the "voluntary" tasks such as spending one day a week in self-criticism, and the way neighbours spy on each other.

Through each person you get a rich picture of daily life in North Korea, and then the terrible years of the Great Famine and the situation that developed after it. You understand why it's so difficult for many to walk away, and why there is now an increasing number of people defecting. More than that, you'll start to realise the enormity of the task that South Korea will face should unification ever become a possibility, and just how much China will fight tooth and nail to prevent it happening.

Worth buying?

If you have ever had any inclination to finding out about North Korea, then buy this book. If you ever see the old photos of people weeping at the funeral of Kim Il-sun or King Jong-il, and wonder how they can cry like that, then buy this book. If you wonder why the country doesn't just rise up in it's own version of the Arab Spring, then buy this book. If none of those things sound interesting to you, then buy this book anyway.

"Nothing to Envy" is the perfect title, because at the end of it you will come away realising how lucky you are to be born in a wealthy country, and you will never be able to think about North Korea again without mentally adding the words "those poor sods".

Buy this book from Waterstones.

Review: Gentlemen & Players

This post contains affiliate links. These links do not cost you money, but if you purchase something after clicking them I get a small fee for sending you there. Despite this the information below is an honest review, if I don't like something I will tell you!

Gentlemen & Players is a crime novel written by the very talented author Joanne Harris (author of Chocolat). Normally I am not a fan of Harris’ crime writing, I prefer the magic that is involved in some of her other work. But after a few pages I found myself easily drawn in to this one, and struggled to put it down.

The story is set in a fictional private school named St Oswalds. As with many of Harris’s other books the book is written from two points of view, in this case from the point of view of the child of a former porter, named Snyde, and the Classics professor Rob Straitley.

Straitly is a very old fashioned character, he is the last Classics teacher left in the school, hates computers and whiteboards and prefers to use his pigeon hole and a blackboard with chalk. He has been at the school for over 30 years and is rapidly approaching his “centenary”, his 100th term as a teacher. He is a crotchety character, uncomfortable around women (he has never married), scornful of some of his colleagues and very protective of his students. He is also one of Snyde’s main targets, as he was a witness to an incident many years ago that led to the death of one of his students.

Snyde on the other hand is very modern, adept with mobile phones and computers, using them to leave a trail that incriminates various staff members with pornographic images and fake browser histories. Snyde was also a witness to the death of a student, Leon Knight, and through the book the story is slowly pieced together by these two characters.

The whole thing starts, as most school books do, in September with a new school year and a new term. New staff members, including Snyde under a new name with a fake CV, and reorganisation with some of the classrooms. Straitley’s year does not start well as he finds his office has been taken from him and given to the languages department, and during the term that the book covers other aspects of his teaching are eroded. You get the feeling that he would actually be a better head of the languages department as he is aware of the other teachers and their personal problems, and cares less for politics and Health and Safety and more about those he works with and those he teaches.

Snyde on the other hand is a predator, bent on destroying the school and Straitley, using one pupil to this end. Jackson Knight is in Straitley’s form and feels bullied and victimised, although both teachers agree that he is mostly just another spoilt brat who thinks the world should revolve around him. At one point he accuses Straitley of anti-Semitism, claiming the teacher is picking on him for being Jewish. I will not, obviously, ruin the rest of the book for you.

During the term Straitley is slowly pushed towards increasingly dangerous health problems as the speed of the story picks up, stolen items, accusations from pupils, graffiti on the fence of his home. Likewise the story about Snyde picks up, the past, the parents (including an absent mother) and Straitley’s role in everything and what he did to deserve such torment. Harris balances both characters well, ending each chapter with enough information to make you go “and...!?” before swapping back to the other character, so you are compelled to turn the pages and find out more. I also like the fact that she set the book in a school with an old history, but kept the book in the present day, where teachers are facing pressure to keep up to date with increasing workloads, the latest teaching technology, and the out-of-school arguments between pupils that often start on social media platforms beyond the school's remit.

My one complaint about this book is that it is a bit too long, but the ending will literally blow your socks off and make you flick back through the previous chapters going “how on earth did I miss that?” so it is definitely worth taking the time to read it.

This is a very good book writing by a very good author, if you like crime novels with a bit of a twist then I highly recommend you pick this up. It's been out for a number of years so you'll probably find it in a charity shop if you don't want to pay full price.

Buy this book from Waterstones.