Asboville by Danny Rhodes - Guest Review by Luisa Plaja

Guest Review by teen writer, Luisa Plaja, author of Split by a Kiss.

After sixteen-year-old Londoner JB is served with an Anti Social Behaviour Order, he’s sent away to live with his uncle. Under the conditions of the ASBO, he must spend the summer painting beach huts, one per day, and be back at his uncle’s caravan by seven every evening. He settles reluctantly into a task which allows him a lot of thinking time, and also enables him to observe and eventually meet the local teenagers, including a gang like the one he was in back home, and Sal, a girl with problems of her own.

I found this book immediately engaging, with settings that are skilfully brought to life. Even though we only see the seaside town in the summer months, there is a strong sense of what it would be like to live there all year round. The beach hut painting premise is very effective, providing an intriguing and symbolic hook.

However, I was initially sceptical about the character of JB. I struggled to see JB’s situation from his own perspective, as the evocative descriptions in the first few chapters did not seem to sit right with JB’s alienation and his attitude to life. But as the novel progresses and the sensitive side of JB emerges, his character begins to ring true and the earlier chapters made more sense to me.

Sal initially appears as an italic addition to the end of JB-focused chapters, so that by the time JB meets her, the reader already has considerable insight into her life. The developing relationship between JB and Sal had Romeo and Juliet-style complications that kept me guessing and turning the pages. The characterisation in the novel was excellent: JB’s reluctant rivalry with Moey was realistically threatening and his friendships with Scooby and Carla were touching, but perhaps my favourite character was JB’s uncle, who is resigned to his lot in life, but has not given in to despair. Asboville gives off a faint note of hope that I felt was largely carried by this character.

I’ve heard this book compared to The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton and I can see the similarities in its non-judgmental depiction of disaffected youth. Personally, I considered it closer to a Kevin Brooks novel, perhaps with fewer thriller elements. There is also a slightly incongruous scene involving JB’s mother that borders on preachiness, but manages to avoid it to become one of the most memorable parts of the book. It is possibly this scene which marks the book out as an adult rather than a teen read. However, I think this novel could be appreciated equally by either audience.

Asboville effectively combines realistic characters and scenarios with social commentary, mystery and a touching love story. I found it a thought-provoking and original read.

Asboville by Danny Rhodes is published by Maia Press. ISBN-13: 978-1904559221. 214 pages. £8.99

For the Vulpes Libris interview with Danny Rhodes, click here.