Hi All,

Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the start of Spring. I’ve had the chance to enjoy a lovely bit of sunshine over the last few days and do some pottering around in the garden. I can’t wait for it to get a little bit warmer now so I can sit outside and enjoy the sunshine with a good book.

Book 📖

I love a good coming of age story so that coupled with the cover is what caught my eye with this book. Thank you to @CameronPMtweets and @SeanHancock7 for this copy of Trick in return for an honest review. Trick has already been published and you can get a copy here.

Description 🔖

Trick lives in a small country town, he’s fifteen and he’s the only black kid locally. He falls into a crowd of guys that aren’t really going anywhere in life and he wins them over when he suggests that they rob the local supermarket. He doesn’t truly think they will follow through, but he can’t go back on the idea. Once the deed is done, things start to take a huge downwards spiral and rather than be sucked into it all, Trick starts to realise that he wants far more from his life.

General Thoughts 🤔

I was really pleasantly surprised with this book. Not that I went into it with low expectations; more like no expectations and it turned out I really enjoyed it. I’m sure a lot of people could relate to at least one part of this book whether it be struggling to understand who you are and what you want when you’re in your teens or lusting after the fittest girl/boy in your year. What I definitely wasn’t expecting was the small things that I would relate to regarding race. The subtle things like can I touch your hair? or where are you from? (really meaning what is your heritage). Growing up in a predominantly white area and one of very few non-white people in my school, these are all things that I experienced in my teens. At the time I can’t say that I was ever offended but looking back, I suppose it did instil a feeling of “different” in me.

I thought the story line was great and I was engaged with the plot and the characters right from the beginning. I thought it was quite an easy going read but at the same time I still looked forward to going back for each chapter.

Characters 👬👭👫

Of course Trick is the main character in the book and I thought he was an absolute sweetheart. Yes, he made some stupid decisions and yes I wanted to give him a kick up the backside to be honest with himself and his friends, but I could not help but love him. I was rooting for Trick to realise that he didn’t have to settle and have the confidence in himself to go after what he wanted.

I’m sure a lot of people can think back to a group of friends from their teenage years that were just like Trick’s friends. All bravado and little else more. The type of kids that think they run the show but their lives really never go anywhere. It was obvious to me from the start that Trick was not like the other boys but they were a group that accepted him into the fold and offered him protection; what fifteen year old boy in Trick’s shoes wouldn’t have made nice with them?

I understand that with so many characters in a relatively short novel, it must be difficult to flesh out all of them. However I felt like there was so much more I wanted to know about a few of the characters.

Writing Style ✍️

I thought that the book was written with quite a laid back tone. It’s a coming of age story and it’s written in a way that accurately reflects that time in people’s lives. I liked the colloquialisms that were used and I also really admired that the author did not shy away from using racial slurs in the text. It’s offensive and it probably makes a lot of people squirm, but it is truth and it happens all too often. Reading it doesn’t feel half as uncomfortable as being on the receiving end of it.

Conclusion & Scoring 🎖️

Overall I really enjoyed this story and found it to be a great read. It took me back quite some years and it felt quite comforting to recognise some things from my teen years reflected back at me. I fell in love with Trick and if there is ever a Trick continued, I’d love to read it.

😍😍😍😩😩