A review by foxholebookcourt
The Boy from the Mish by Gary Lonesborough

emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I have quite a few mixed feelings about this book because on the one hand, I definitely feel like this is a book people need to read, as it deals with a variety of serious themes in a very realistic way. On the other hand, there were some aspects about the characters and the writing that I did not personally enjoy. So, while I did take a lot from this book, I also cannot say I immensely enjoy it.

When it comes to the good things, like I said, the book has certain themes and a lot of influence from the Aboriginal culture, as the author himself is Aboriginal and mentions he was inspired by personal experience. It includes quite a few triggering things to be aware of (I’ll add a list of them in the end) but they are handled in a very realistic and respectful manner. The plot is simple, and adds to the genre, with an honest and intriguing kind of story telling. 

On the other hand, when it comes to the things I didn’t like, the dialogue would put me off quite often, as it didn’t feel as if that’s how young people, or people in general, actually talk. It felt kind of flat. Same goes for a few scenes and how they changed from one to the other. It was all so sudden, and one moment we would be in this setting and the next moment we would be in another. It felt a lot like ‘we are doing this and that. Anyways, we are there now’ and it would immediately put me off reading. The characters also felt kind of blunt as well, except our protagonist whose PoV guides us through the story.

I still recommend you read this book and to not be discouraged by my rating as I think that all the negative things I mentioned are mostly personal preferences.  

TWs: Racism, racial slurs, homophobia, homophobic slurs, outing, minor violence, police violence, racial profiling