Imogen's review
By Imogen Dalziel / Spinebreakers Crew
‘Guantanamo Boy’ is a fictional story loosely based on real events. Fifteen-year-old Khalid Ahmed is on holiday in Pakistan with his family when he is captured and falsely accused of terrorism acts and threats to blow up the Western world. For the next few years, he suffers various forms of torture, endless interrogations, and, worst of all, the thought that he may never return home again.
This book has some very strong, emotive moments, but I found that parts of the novel are somewhat plodding and repetitive. I was not particularly gripped by the book at the beginning, either; the descriptions of Khalid’s hometown of Rochdale, and the friendships he shares with his school mates, appear too similar to other teenage novels for the reader to properly feel a connection with the characters straightaway. However, the narration throughout the key moments of the novel is both powerful and moving, and throws the reader into a completely different world, one which they could never begin to comprehend otherwise.
The most tragic element of the book, for me, was its basis of real events. An absolute classic novel this might not seem, but it is definitely a testament to the desperate situation many families continue to find themselves in worldwide, and the help that is needed to bring innocent prisoners home once and for all.