Nobody Saw No One by Steve Tasane

The Blurb On The Back:

North London – a gang of identity thieves up the Seven Sisters Road … a “family” of boys long ago lost in the system.

Angel-faced Alfi Spar has fled Tenderness House Secure Unit and come to London to disappear, eating from bins and sleeping in skips, until his old mate, Citizen Digit, offers him a roof.

But their past at Tenderness House is not ready to release them; the boys saw something nobody should see, and the badness is coming after them.

TELL IT. TELL ALL.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Steve Tasane’s YA retelling of OLIVER TWIST re-imagines the classic story for a post-Jimmy Savile age to mixed effect. The conspiracy elements of the story rang very true for me with Tasane showing the ramifications of sexual abuse for its victims (particularly Grace, who swaps one type of exploitation for another), the refusal of those in authority to believe victims because of their “criminality” and how this allows pedophile groups to exist and operate at the highest levels of society (all of which, unfortunately, remains very topical). Unfortunately, Alfi was too much of an ingénue for me given his background – the sweet innocence that worked for Oliver Twist simply didn’t seem believable here and Alfi’s continued naivety given everything that happens to him made me wonder if he had special educational needs. Citizen Digit’s cynicism and world wariness was more credible, but he’s let down by a highly stylized dialogue style, which I think is a Marmite thing as it clearly works for some readers, but for me the references were quite obscure and not something I’d expect a teenager to say. I also wished that Mr Virus and Jackson got more page time so they could develop into more three-dimensional characters. That said there are some good twists and I enjoyed the cyber crime elements and although this book didn’t quite work for me, it’s still worth a read and I would check out Tasane’s other work.

NOBODY SAW NO ONE was released in the United Kingdom on 4th June 2015. Thanks to Walker Books for the review copy of this book.

Sea Djinn by Linda Davies

The Blurb On The Back:

A Boy will come. A Boy will fight for my Kingdom and for his own. Finn, you are that Boy.

Finn Kennedy thinks he is a normal boy. Until, surfing off the Dubai coast, he meets Triton, the Sea Djinn, a supernatural being with spectacular powers. Finn soon discovers that he has powers of his own. When his parents are kidnapped by Hydrus, the evil Sea Djinn, he is forced to use those powers. Together with his cousin Georgina and his friend Fred, he steals a boat and sets sail for the Dark Kingdom …

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

I took a copy of Linda Davies’s debut middle grade fantasy novel (the first in a series) because I was really excited to read a fantasy novel set in the middle east and using djinn mythology. Unfortunately, this book is rife with clichés, leaden dialogue and stereotypical characters. The opening chapter sets out the entire premise in a heavy-handed way and it doesn’t get any better from then on. Finn is a dull hero whose frustration quickly gives way to temper tantrums. His cousin Georgina is slightly more rounded given that she has to run the house for her mother, Camelia (who has fallen into depression since the disappearance of her husband) but it was depressing to see the first passages about her emphasising how she’s a good cook. Fred is a bit of a geek, bad at sport and bullied by his financier father who toadies to anyone with power and money. The villains are completely two-dimensional and for all the peril, the ending isn’t really in doubt. In fact the only interesting character was Mr Violet but he’s not on the page long enough to make a real impact. What really disappointed me though was the fact that the location is really incidental to this – the Dubai setting isn’t used effectively and really this adventure could have taken place in any coastal city. Davies does handle the action well but the plotting is predictable and the pacing erratic while the prophecy element adds nothing. Ultimately, there wasn’t enough here for me to continue with this series, although I may check out Davies’s other work.

Thanks to Jerboa Books for the review copy of this book.