29 Locks

29 Locks is a book that moves you in a way few do. It's far from gentle, it's certainly not a fairytale and it doesn't have a single prince (or princess) charming.

No, what 29 Locks has is the ability to knock the reader down and make them sorely wish you could help Donny escape what seems to be an inevitable conclusion - another teenage addict, a runner for some arrogant faceless monster who loves money and cares little about consequences, a name on a faded memorial... take your pick, Donny is fated for nothing good and he knows it even if he doesn't necessarily want it. After all, it's all he knows from early childhood and having a single mum addicted yo crack and God knows what else.

It sounds like the reader and Donny are in for a miserable soul-destroying time. Where you're going to curse characters and beg a fictional teen to not do what he does. But 29 Locks whilst fiction, is very much about life and you're immersed into the darkest parts of Hackney where drugs and crime are rife and children are destined to die if they didn't escape from their fate. It's a very dark insight into a world that we all know exist, but often pretend not to see and for Donny it's a world he can't completely escape from even if he wants too, with a Mum whose addiction holds her hostage and caused him to be torn away from all he knows.

Donny is initially taken to a family who live across the otherside of London and despite loving for his Mum, he loves the simple comforts that most take for granted. A hot meal, a warm bath when he needs and wants it, a parental figure who shows him true affection and puts her children first. But things go wrong around him and he's taken back into the system due to events that are out of his control. Donny's fate as I say, seems sealed and he's to be either an addict or responsible for others no matter what he does. This really hurt to read, if I'm honest after seeing the somewhat naive little boy at the beginning of the book become so jaded.

When Donny is taken from London finally and to Hertfordshire, he feels out of his depth and is taunted by his classmates who judge him by both how he looks and where he comes from. All except Zoe, the spoilt but emotionally denied girl in school who becomes not only his best friend but the beginning of the new Donny.

But it is Donny's work experience with canals and helping out Andrew the gatekeeper of the lock gates who truly changes the lost boy into being the strong and determined young man he becomes. An adventure with Zoe leads to them following the waterways from Hartfordshire to London so Zoe can live out her dream, and Donny can see his Mum again when she's released from prison. The two already have a close bond but their eyes are opened to the world, even Donny who has seen too much. Determined to do whatever is necessary to protect Zoe, Donny fights against everything he knows.

29 Locks is dark, the world within the book is gritty and one that opens the reader's eyes to the reality of the world some have no choice of being a part of but there is also hope. Donny's inner strength is one to be admired and whilst you nay want to scream at the pages, you will also cheer him on.

This is a book that I think all would get something from, regardless of age.