Allie's Review of Black Rabbit Summer
By Allie Nicholson / Spinebreakers Crew
“Mum was right - I definitely needed to get out a bit more.”
…but Pete Boland is unaware of what lies in wait for him when he decides to make good on this thought by going out to the funfair with his childhood friends. One last outing before they went their separate ways. What could go wrong with that?
Plenty, apparently. His friend Raymond goes missing, and at the same time something horrible happens to Black Rabbit: the immortal pet rabbit Raymond has had for years, buying a new one and naming it the same every time the previous one dies. From then on in Pete is dragged in to a mess of lies, deceit and precarious allegiances. Who can he trust? Moreover, who trusts him?
When I first started reading this book I found it interesting, sure, but not incredibly unsettling or unnerving. That changed as I read though. The story becomes darker and more twisted, until at the end you find yourself in the middle of something extremely disturbing, unsure as to how what started as a story about normal bored teenagers managed to turn in to something so sinister. I had to give it a few weeks before I read it again, but it was a forgone conclusion that I would reread it.
This book definitely isn’t the most feel-good summer read you’re likely to come across, but it will stay with you for a long time after you’ve read it.