This is a story of a London you won't find in any guidebooks.
This is a story about what it's like to exist in the moment, about boys too eager to become men, growing up in the hidden war zones of big cities - and the girls trying to make it their own way.
This is a story of reputations made and lost, of violence and vengeance - and never counting the cost.
This is a story of concrete towers and blank eyed windows, of endless nights in police stations and prison cells, of brotherhood and betrayal.
This is about the boredom, the rush, the despair, the fear and the hope.
This is about what's left behind.
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AND JUMP OUT the whip and I'm hitting the pavement and it's this moment - when you jump out of the car and it's too late to go back - when you know that you're definitely gonna do it, even though the way the adrenaline bursts through your body makes you wish for a second that you weren't here. DON'T WATCH FACE
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(@4thEstateBooks, 3 September 2020, 336 pages, ebook, #ARC from the publisher via # NetGalley and voluntarily reviewed)
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I hadn't heard of this book until a promotional email from NetGalley popped into my in-box. It said great things about the book so I requested it. Who They Was starts off really well. The book was on the way to a 5-star review. There's something very fresh, original and interesting about it. It's written in slang which takes a couple of chapters to get used to but the voice is so real, so alive I quickly adjusted. I found myself fascinated by the characters, especially the protagonist, Gabe. How did a young man, seemingly intelligent and studying English Literature at Uni get involved in street gangs and crime? This is a book about the difference between appearance and reality. My enjoyment waned a little when I realised the characters don't really have a redeeming feature. Still, this is an enjoyable book just not quite what I was hoping for.
