iBoy - Kevin Brooks

iBoy - Kevin Brooks

Pages: 290
Publisher: Puffin/Penguin
Release Date: 1st July 2010

Other Titles by this Author: Lucas, Candy, Martyn Pig, Black Rabbit Summer, Killing God, Being, Kissing the Rain, Bloodline, The Road of the Dead

Before the attack, sixteen-year-old Tom Harvey was just an ordinary boy.

But now fragments of a shattered iPhone are embedded in his brain and it’s having an extraordinary effect…

Because Tom now has powers. The ability to know and see more than he could ever imagine. And with incredible power come knowledge - and a choice. Seek revenge on the violent gangs that rule his estate and assaulted his friend Lucy, or keep quiet?

Tom has control when everything else is out of control. But it’s a dangerous price to pay. And the consequences are terrifying…

I see Kevin Brooks as one of the best YA authors from the UK so I had high expectations for iBoy. I wasn’t disappointed.

Like all of Kevin Brooks’ books, iBoy is gritty and real. Tom’s life on a notorious South London estate isn’t sugar-coated in the slightest. All of the elements of living on a gang-ruled estate are represented - drugs, prostitution, verbal abuse and excessive violence. Thankfully, I’ve never experienced this life myself, but I feel like I’d know what to expect from it. And it’s not a life I’d ever like to live.

With bits of the thrown iPhone embedded in Tom’s brain, he’s imbued with its powers. He can make calls, send texts, use wifi internet and hack any database in his head with thought alone. But as Spiderman said (well, I think it was Spiderman, anyway), “With great power comes great responsibility.” And with his new found powers, Tom took it upon himself to wreak revenge on his friend’s attackers as iBoy.

As the novel progressed, Tom began to lose himself. He constantly questioned whether what he was doing was right or wrong. There was also the fear that he may be lowering himself to the levels of the gangs he was punishing. All of these recurring ideas were strengthened in the facts, quotes and definitions at the beginning of each chapter, which, incidentally, were numbered according to the binary system that was explained, but I still don’t understand.

I thoroughly enjoyed iBoy and it made me want to re-read my favourite Kevin Brooks novel, Lucas.

For my 2010 100+ Reading Challenge

Sophie