Reviewed by Jackie Marchant
This is a timely book,
about terrorism and taking sides. It’s
about prejudice and the danger of judging a whole section of society by the
actions of a few. And what it’s like to
be hated because of who you are.
After surviving a
terrorist bombing, K Child is full of antagonism towards those who carried out
the attack – the Brotherhood. When the
enigmatic Oskar asks her to infiltrate the Brotherhood by attending their top
boarding school to seek out extremists, she finds herself agreeing. After winning her trust, Oskar gives her a
completely new identity, a new set of Brotherhood clothes – and leaves her
alone at the Brotherhood school gates.
At first K is
terrified. She is not only a stranger
here, but a spy. But no one seems to
notice and, not only that, the people she meets are friendly. They’re ordinary, like her. For the first time in her lonely life, she is
surrounded by people who care about her. More than that, she’s falling in love.
At the same time, she
begins to have doubts about Oskar and his true motives. Then she witnesses the sharp end of the
hatred citizens have for the Brotherhood – the same hatred she felt towards
them on the day of the bombing. But they
are not all like that.
Can the two sides ever
be reconciled? This is the aim of the
government, but, as K is drawn further into a web of deceit and anger, it seems
increasingly unlikely – especially as K comes to realise the true horror of
what Oskar wants of her.
One thing we never
learn is what the Brotherhood actually believe in. They have longer names and wear slightly
different clothes, but their doctrines remain elusive – they are hated because
they are Brotherhood, but no one seems to know why. As K learns, we are all the same – and there
are people on both sides who advocate violence.
This is an exciting
read, with romance and danger in equal measure.
It’s part thriller, part love-story, but all page-turner. I can recommend it for younger teens.
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