Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Poetry, British Literature, Race Thoughts: This poetry collection is enlightening on the Black British experience and also heartbreakingly relevant 25 years on, especially the Arabian war if we swap the Q for an N. Some of the poems were especially stark like ‘What Stephen Lawrence Has Taught Us’, ‘Appeal Dismissed’, and ‘Christmas Has Been Shot’. Some poems were also quite educational like ‘Having a Word’, ‘Kill Them Before Ramadan’, and ‘The Men from Jamaica Are Settling Down’. Favourite Quote: "You've had so many wars to end all wars, Still millions are dying from the wars you left behind."
Rating: 4 Stars Themes: Short Stories, Psychological Fiction Thoughts: This book is surprisingly cute. It shows the random meeting between Timothy Flowers and Charlie and the friendship that develops over the day. Timothy himself suffered child abuse which led to his brain working differently so others look at him like he’s strange but isn’t treated like there’s something wrong with him and it does make me feel protective towards him. I did notice that Charlie seemed to be using Timothy’s size and strength to his advantage a little more than necessary as it starts as a suggested teamwork situation but Timothy ends up doing nearly all the heavy lifting and manual labour that day. I thought the ending was sweet with the possibility of acceptance for Timothy and the chance of being able to feel like he’s helping and since his mother was there when Timothy got home he’s likely to be protected from being exploited going forward too. Favourite Quote: “You should learn. All men should know se...