Who They Was
Ratings2
Average rating4.5
15
Ratings2
Average rating4.5
Longlisted for the Booker Prize Named a Most Anticipated Book of Summer 2021 by Entertainment Weekly, Time, and CrimeReads Named a Best Book of 2021 by Time An astonishing, visceral autobiographical novel about a young man straddling two cultures: the university where he is studying English Literature and the disregarded world of London gang warfare. The unforgettable narrator of this compelling, thought-provoking debut goes by two names in his two worlds. At the university he attends, he's Gabriel, a seemingly ordinary, partying student learning about morality at a distance. But in his life outside the classroom, he's Snoopz, a hard living member of London's gangs, well-acquainted with drugs, guns, stabbings, and robbery. Navigating these sides of himself, dealing with loving parents at the same time as treacherous, endangering friends and the looming threat of prison, he is forced to come to terms with who he really is and the life he's chosen for himself. In a distinct, lyrical urban slang all his own, author Gabriel Krauze brings to vivid life the underworld of his city and the destructive impact of toxic masculinity. Who They Was is a disturbing yet tender and perspective-altering account of the thrill of violence and the trauma it leaves behind. It is the story of inner cities everywhere, and of the lost boys who must find themselves in their tower blocks.
Reviews with the most likes.
A 3.5 star read. This book isn't for the faint of heart. From the outset this book dives into the criminal underbelly of London urban crime in the 21st century. As a reader,we are immersed from the first chapter into a world swarming with gang shootouts, drug dealers, postcode warfare and armed robbery. A world the author lived and breathed growing up. From this unique autobiographical perspective Gabriel Krauze helps the reader traverse a side of London far removed from the tourist hotspots the city is renown for. A brutal and harsh look at the cold reality of knife and gun crime in the English capital. This debut novel sears with an authentic vernacular style and a poignant reflective undertone.
I would have rated this novel higher as the own voices narrative of the criminal underworld of London is both powerful and breathtaking. However it just missed out on a 4 star rating as the length of the novel was too long for me and the development of the plot too slow.
Thanks to 4th Estate/William Collins, NetGalley and Gabriel Krauze for a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
