Blurb: Ben Fletcher must get to grips with his more 'feminine' side following an unfortunate incident with a lollipop lady and a stolen bottle of Martini Rosso from Waitrose. All a big misunderstanding of course. To avoid the Young Offenders unit, Ben is ordered to give something back to the community and develop his sense of social alignment. Take up a hobby and keep on the straight and narrow. The hot teacher he likes runs a knitting group so Ben, reluctantly at first, gets 'stuck in'. Not easy when your dad is a sports fan and thinks Jeremy Clarkson is God. To his surprise, Ben finds that he likes knitting and that he has a mean competitive streak. If he can just keep it all a secret from his mates...and notice that the girl of his dreams, girl-next-door Megan Hooper has a bit of a thing for him...Laugh-out-loud, often ridiculous, sometimes quite touching, and revelatory about the knitting world, Boys Don't Knit is a must for boys and girls...
Review:
I was so happy to receive this novel in exchange for an honest review from the publishers, Hot Key Books .
I love the cover of this book. It is so bright & cheerful. I think it is the only yellow novel I own and its bright yellow spine really stands out on my bookshelf. I also love that there is little flecks of red on the yellow cover, similar to wool. The ball of wool and the needles are also very pretty on the cover.
I was really excited to read this novel and I finished it in a day! I loved reading about the knitting aspect of the novel. The only other novel I've read around the topic of knitting is the Jenny Q series by Pauline Mc Lynn (Review 1 | Review 2 ) . I loved reading about Ben's knitting journey, from hating the idea of it, to enjoying every second of it. I really have a crave to pick back up knitting after reading this novel.
I found this book to be so interesting. I loved reading about Ben's knitting and his love of it. I liked learning about the different types of wool, the different stitches and patterns. I didn't know you could but knitting patters, I've only seen them in library books. I also had no idea there was such thing as a Knitting Championship ! That is so cool. This novel also made me really want to join a knitting circle so I can get back into it again. Also the Etsy reference was cool.
The characters in the novel are very good. I loved Ben's character. He is definitely a worrier and I thought it was so funny when he fluffed up every attempt to chat to girls. His relationship with his friends was a little odd and I did wonder at times why he was friends with them but they are good and loyal friends although a bit stupid at times. I disliked the dad's character as I found him to be somewhat homophobic and at times he felt a little pushy with his views. I loved Ben's relationship with his probation officer, it was such an odd and fun exchange.
I also loved the way T.S Easton unravels the student infactuated with his teacher plot. Ben's friendship with Miss Frensham was nice to read about and I liked their friendship also. I thought the Fifty Shades Of Graham novel idea was hilariously brilliant!
The writing style was really enjoyable. I really liked that all the characters personality's shone through so clearly from the accounts given by Ben. I really loved the format of the novel. The novel takes the form of Ben's personal diary. I love reading books in diary format as I feel they bring you closer to the protagonist and make the reading experience more fun. The witty dialogue and typical shenanigans of English teenagers, Ben and his crazy friends, were all things I loved about the novel.
I can't wait for the sequel to come out. It is called An English Boy In New York .
Overall I highly recommend this novel to both boys and girls. It is very funny and very engrossing. Such a good read for my first book in 2014.
Favourite Quote: "Maybe all adults are unravelling a bit inside? Like they've dropped a couple stitches somewhere. "
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Rating:
Five Star Novel
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This book looks like such fun. I love the bright yellow cover as well, it makes me feel happy. Really looking forward to reading this one.
ReplyDeleteThis books seems like a fun read.I love knitting and really want to read it soon. Glad that you enjoyed this book. :)
ReplyDeleteIni @ Ini's Ravishing Reads