Customer Reviews

Dawn

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3 star:		(1)
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When it comes to New Year's resolutions, I think Dawn Bundy has got us all beat. The main character in Kevin Brooks' latest novel wants to defeat God as a way to heal her pain. She says herself that it's not really a New Year's resolution, but the novel opens on the 1st of January, the start of a brand new year, and she's out for the kill, starting tomorrow.

Before she can defeat her enemy, though, she goes to the bookstore to get as much information as possible to figure out what to do. You see, Dawn is fine with her present-day self at fifteen years old, yet struggles with her thirteen-year-old self who holds memories that are not pleasant and lives in a cave within her head. It is a place that is dark, cold, and bleak.

At 15, Dawn is taking care of her alcoholic mother, wondering where her dad ran off to when he left two years ago, and wondering why the two toughest girls in her school have invited her to hang out and party.

There's a Q and A component to the book which is interesting, like present-day Dawn is talking to Dawn-in-the-cave because she's trying to figure out how she feels. And really, it's not that Dawn wants to kill God, as much as she hates that her dad "found" God and used Him as an excuse to hurt her in a way that feels irreparable.

As our story winds from Dawn leaving the bookstore to running into Mel and Taylor (aka Tough Girls at School) to coping with her everyday life, the reader is treated to Brooks' sharply detailed writing. The ending surprises the reader with something not quite expected, but well thought out and well executed.

Having never read Brooks' work before, this was a good book with which to start. While the story itself is dark, at the core, we have a teen in an identity crisis. She is trying to figure out where she is and who she is. Throw in a few complications like caring for parents, deciphering the mean girls, and trying to fit in, and we have a book that I couldn't put down.

I am giving this 3-stars, though, because there were some things that didn't add up for me. Dawn had this horrible crime done to her by her dad and she loves his favorite music still? Most victims would want nothing to do with the person who committed the crime. While Dawn loved her dad, but hated his crime, she's not black and white enough for a teenager. She sees the good dad, even when he was addicted to drugs and alcohol, and loves him. She doesn't really come to terms with bad dad and what he did because she's still struggling with it. When she gets mad at him later on in the book, we can understand why, but there's still suspended belief because we hear mostly about how good a dad he was, until he takes up with the latest addiction that does him in.

Great writing - great story - I look forward to reading more of Brooks' work, but be prepared for the darkness in this story.

Dawn Bundy has set out to kill God. She is not exactly sure how to go about it, but she is sure it's the only answer.

Two years ago her father disappeared. It's not that it was a terrible loss. He was a drunken drug addict and pretty worthless as far as she could tell. However, since he disappeared her mother has fallen apart. She spends her time in front of the TV usually drunk and zoned out on her antidepressant meds.

Dawn goes to school and then comes home to hang out. She spends her free time listening to music and snuggling up with her two dogs. Their life isn't perfect, but thanks to her father, she and her mother have money. He left behind a duffel bag full of money. The gun also left inside the bag suggests the money was from some drug deal, but whatever the case, they have used it wisely as they wait for his possible return.

Dawn describes herself as having another Dawn trapped in a cave inside her mind. That other Dawn is hiding from something she doesn't want to remember. Even though Dawn tries to carry on and push aside her memories, they eventually catch up with her and pull the inner Dawn out into the light of day.

Author Kevin Brooks exhibits his unique talent to get inside the psyche of his characters. Through Dawn, readers will live her fears and frustrations as she deals with her alcoholic mother and repressed memories of her absent father. As the layers of her character are peeled away, her story becomes deeper and darker. Readers will feel her desperation, yet sense the underlying hope that drives her.

Fans of Kevin Brooks will want to check out his latest.

Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"

My name is Dawn.
I'm thirteen years old.
My name is Dawn.
I don't want to think about it.
But every day it hurts more and more and the cave in my head gets smaller and smaller and the cave in my head gets darker and darker and the cave in my head gets colder and colder and if I don't get out of it soon, I think this cave is going to kill me.
Dawn is a daughter.
Dawn is a sex thing.
My name is Dawn.
I'm thirteen years old.
God help me.

Dawn isn't sure she really wants God to help her at all. In fact, she doubts that God even exists --- and if He does, He better watch out. Dawn has plans to kill Him. She wasn't always like this, however. Life used to be simpler.

Most of Dawn's problems began when her father decided that drinking, drugs and shady deals were the way to go. He claimed to have found God along the way, but his disappearance left her and her mother broken and unhinged. Dawn's mother spends her time in front of the television, drink in hand and a bottle of prescriptions not far away. The only thing keeping Dawn and her mother stable is the green duffel bag of money hidden away beneath the floorboards --- a rare gift left by Dawn's father.

Days pass by with no change until the two most popular girls in Dawn's class, Taylor and Mel, decide to "befriend" Dawn and invite themselves over. Dawn is unsure what to think of this unwarranted attention. She introduces them to her dachshunds, Jesus and Mary (named after her favorite band), and attempts to understand why she is suddenly so interesting to this pair of girls.

Their next visit only brings trouble. Taylor and Mel show up with cigarettes, alcohol and the need to perform a makeover on Dawn. As the night slowly spirals out of control, Dawn is forced to confront a mixture of dark, hidden feelings. Taylor is strangely focused on revealing her father's mysterious past, which may or may not have anything to do with an incident that remains deeply buried inside Dawn. Confusion begins creeping in on all sides, and this time she may not be able to tuck everything away and pretend it's okay.

Deep, complex issues are at the root of DAWN, and Kevin Brooks attempts to tackle them all within 250 pages. While the reader will no doubt be swept up with the main character and her secrets, a lot of storylines go unexplored. Instead of trying to pack everything into one novel, I wish Brooks had focused on just one aspect of Dawn. There are a lot of questions left unanswered with little chance to make sense of them all. Still, there are readers out there who may be able to relate with DAWN, and for that it's worth adding the book to your list.

--- Reviewed by Benjamin Boche (bennyboche@hotmail.com)