Four Small Stones
by Gary Taaffe
Series: Urban Hunters #1
Published: August 1, 2011
Genres: Fiction, Young Adult
Format: eBook (116 pages)
Source: For Review
Before Billy’s search for girls begins, he must first survive his older brother’s sickening game with a sun–bloated dead kangaroo. A twisted tale of cat and mouse explodes with sweet biscuits, a flooded cave crawling with bats and a challenge to retrieve a crystal. Can Billy pull off the impossible and earn his brother’s respect?
Four Small Stones was like The Jungle Book set in Aboriginal Australia. When I saw the subtitle, “Billy’s Gotta Find Some Girls,” I knew I had to read it. I was pulled in from the first page by how vivid and visual the writing was. I was immersed in an entirely new and fascinating culture that was shocking, sad, beautiful and amazing. He dedicates this book to his nieces and nephews who “stared wide-eyed as I told them about Billy and Amber’s adventures” and I felt exactly the same way. I’ve never read anything like it. I was grossed out one minute, laughing out loud the next, and completely shocked by the sad and heart-breaking things that can happen to the Aboriginal people. I was a little stunned by how graphic some of it was (think rotting, maggott filled kangaroo type stuff), but I loved this book. Gary Taaffe did an excellent job of entertaining me and at the same time educating me on a different people and their way of life. I can’t wait for the next one.
Content Rating: High, for frequent language (mostly the s*** word) and some graphic descriptions. The content was more mature than I’m used to seeing in Middle Grade/Young Adult books so I personally feel that this book is best suited to adults.
About Gary Taaffe
Gary Taaffe lives in a small coastal town in NSW, Australia. There's open ocean on one side, a massive saltwater lake on the other and enough virgin bushland in the surrounding areas to lose yourself for a week. When he's not writing, Gary's hunting deer for the freezer or putting around the lake fishing for flathead.
He's a Toolmaker by trade, a successful inventor and now, a writer. Urban Hunters is the culmination of his inventiveness, his enthusiasm for the outdoors and his fun-filled sense of humour.
My name is Jessica. I love to read Young Adult and classic literature. I’ve been a book blogger for six years and I haven’t gotten tired of it yet. I’m a very curious reader. Writing about all the questions and thoughts I had while reading a book is the best hobby ever.
Jessica I can’t thank
you enough for your honest review. You really do get where I’m coming from. And
your portrayal was so eloquent. ‘The Jungle Book set in Aboriginal Australia,’
a very exciting quote, thank you so much. ‘I’ve never read anything like it’, again,
music to my ears. I want to leave my readers emotionally exhausted. Scarred by
the experience, in a good way. I don’t just want someone to feel sad, I want
them to be emotionally distraught. I’m not looking for just a giggle, I want my
readers to unashamedly laugh out loud. And, dare I say it, I want them to learn
something to, to be interested and
entertained.
Thank you again.
My very warmest
regards.
Gary Taaffe
That subtitle is perfect. I’m a little surprised by the frequent cursing though! The cover definitely looks way more MG than anything.
I did a search on my kindle and found that s*** comes up about 20 times in the fifty pages of this novel. He’s using it “correctly” but still…it was more swearing than I’m used to.
Great review!