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A review by libreroaming
Beck by Mal Peet
2.0
"Beck" starts off with a lean Jack London or John Steinbeck like prose detailing the horrific abuses of a mixed race orphan, within the first fifty pages he has been shipped off, beaten, raped and sent on the run. It reads more like an adult novel than for children.
Later in the story seems to morph and mellow into more typical YA where Beck seeks out odd jobs in an attempt to make his way through life. The last part of the book focused on the raw sexual desire he has with a Blackfoot woman named Grace, who saved him after he showed up naked by a burning tree.
While there is frequently good writing in the novel, the character of Beck is defined by what trauma is visited upon him. Also, the change of writing style no longer keeps the reader at an arm's length in its brutality so to have earlier atrocities written matter of factly and later ones given a softer parring makes it inconsistent and the message muddled.
Later in the story seems to morph and mellow into more typical YA where Beck seeks out odd jobs in an attempt to make his way through life. The last part of the book focused on the raw sexual desire he has with a Blackfoot woman named Grace, who saved him after he showed up naked by a burning tree.
While there is frequently good writing in the novel, the character of Beck is defined by what trauma is visited upon him. Also, the change of writing style no longer keeps the reader at an arm's length in its brutality so to have earlier atrocities written matter of factly and later ones given a softer parring makes it inconsistent and the message muddled.