Guest Review - Lucas - Kevin Brooks

Hey Guys!

First off I want to thank Claire forallowing me to post here for you guys today. She did one for me, here,and now I’m returning the favour! She gave me the chance to just talk about abook that I love and it is with great pleasure that I announce to you that today,I thought I would talk to you all about Lucas by Kevin Brooks.

There are a few books in everyone’s livesthat really hit the nail on the head and achieve their goal. For some it wasthe Harry Potter books, for othersthe Lord of the Rings and for anotherselection of people it was the Twilightbooks. While I do, in fact, love HarryPotter immensely and it was a series that I grew up around, and createdmany ever-lasting friendships over, these are not the books that truly changedmy outset on life. I did learn quite a few lessons from these books and Ithoroughly enjoyed the journey that they took me through, but there is one bookthat impacted me so much more.

Lucas is the story of a girl and a boy who have a chance – yet somewhatmagical – encounter. Caitlin is fifteen and things in her life seem to befalling apart around her. Her brother is running off with the wrong crowd, andthen her best friend joins him. Her mother died tragically and her father,while loving and supportive, is always in his study writing his next novel. Sheis truly alone and suffering. In steps Lucas. An outsider to the island shecalls home, but to Caitlin, he is just the thing she needs, at the time sheneeds it.

Everyone else on the island, however,believes that he doesn’t belong there and they do everything within their powerto get him to leave. With insults, and the occasional stones, being thrown hisway, Lucas is glad to have Caitlin by his side and she is just simply glad tobe with him and mystified by everything he keeps to himself. The pair struggleagainst the onslaught from the other people on the island and this novel is thestory of how it all started, and eventually, how it all ended.

This novel is so... rich, raw and brilliant,and it has been my favourite book since the moment that I finished the lastpage, a good six years ago now. Kevin Brooks quickly became my favourite authoras I sought out more of his books and found that each and every one is filledwith amazing lessons, themes and messages that would simply take your breathaway. It may have been six years since I last read this book, (shame on me, Iknow), but, it will forever be my favourite book.

Why?

Because it was the first book that I pickedup and read that didn’t have a happy ending. It was the first time I read abook that felt more like reality than fiction and it has stuck with me to thisday. Every other book I read is measured against this and thus far, no book hasmanaged to build in me the emotions that I felt from this one. It is simply abook too hard to compete with. It is the one book that made me realise thatsometimes books don’t need happyendings and that, most of the time, books would be perfectly fine and brilliantwithout them. From the day I finishedthis book, I have constantly hunted down books that don’t end with a “happilyever after” at the end, because, while it’s nice and lovely, it just doesn’tfeel realistic; especially if the rest of the book has been filled with doomand gloom.

So, it is with great pride and happinessthat I now sit here and tell you all to go and read Lucas by Kevin Brooks. And, while you’re at it, why not pick up Kissing the Rain, Martyn Pig, Candy or his newest release, iboy.

Faye

Thank you so much to Faye for helping me out with this amazing guest blog! <3