The “Novelholics” YA reading group have been reading the Bunker Diary by Kevin Brooks. Below is Charlotte’s brilliant review of the book.
I can’t believe I fell for it.
It was still dark when I woke up this morning.
As soon as my eyes opened I knew where I was.
A low-ceilinged rectangular building made entirely of whitewashed concrete.
There are six little rooms along the main corridor.
There are no windows. No doors. The lift is the only way in or out.
What’s he going to do to me?
What am I going to do?
If I’m right, the lift will come down in five minutes.
It did. Only this time it wasn’t empty . . .
The Bunker Diary is a young adult novel that was written by Kevin Brooks in 2013. In 2014, it won a Carnegie Medal for children’s literature. The book has been attacked because of this, as it is incredibly dark and not appropriate for children, although the Carnegie Medal has been known to award books that you would not expect a child to read in previous years. One comment was made that the novel “seems to have won on shock value rather than merit”, though I beg to differ.
Though the book itself does have a good dose of shock, it is still very well-written and down to earth. There have been arguments that there should have been a specification on the cover- a red flag that this book is for adults. I do agree with this, as even I was a little shocked when I finished the book late at night. It is certainly the kind of book that sticks in your head and won’t let go for days. I feel a warning would ease the protests a little more. As for the brutality of the book, well, how are we going to go through life without that sort of honesty? We can’t live on believing that “oh, life is so hard but maybe someday a shirtless vampire will fling himself through the window and whisk me away from this horrible life.” It could be reminder, in a way, that things aren’t actually so bad for us. Miracles? Those are rare as hen’s teeth.
The plot itself is rather simple- Linus Weems, a homeless teenager who originally came from a wealthy family, is kidnapped by who he presumes to be a blind man in need of assistance, and awakens alone in an underground bunker. Six rooms, six chairs, six sets of cutlery. There is no escape. More people are slowly deposited down a lift, which they also use to contact with their kidnapper. In turn, the kidnapper sends them down supplies. Misbehaviour results in punishment- deafening noise, a vicious dog, etc.
I would recommend this book to anybody who doesn’t mind being stabbed with the blunt knife of honesty multiple times in their soul. Also, if you like a good, gruesome thriller, that’s a good enough reason too. In many ways, it is beautiful, but it is not for the emotionally weak.
There is so much more to say about this book- the horrors, the controversies. But of course, I can’t expect you to read a whole book’s worth of thoughts, so I’ll leave you with this; you don’t have to love this book, or hate it, for it to be a good book. What matters is how it was written- the emotion it stirs and what we bring with us afterwards. Because once you pick it up, it’s a struggle to put back down.
