‘Life, Death, Prizes’ went to the bottom of my ‘to read’ list—not really my cup of tea. It’s a great gig reviewing books but the downside is that many times you receive books that are just not to your taste. The books that rock my world involve thrills, spills, psychopaths, and if you have a spare monster or ghost, I will take those as well.

Now the upside of being a book reviewer—besides the lovely, free unreleased books—is the same as the downside. Let’s just say I am forced to read outside my comfort zone and, sometimes, I am pleasantly surprised. On occasions, I am absolutely blown away.

So, where does ‘Life! Death! Prizes! fall? If my voice sounds like an echo it’s because I’ve been blown away to Kansas by this book. Not my usual fare but it proves a book well written, no matter what, is a good book.

Billy is a nineteen-year-old dealing with the emotions of, well, being a nineteen-year-old, and all the associated grottiness and self-consciousness. His Mother has died pointlessly in a recent bungled street robbery leaving him parent to his little brother Oscar. There are plenty of pedestrian books on kids whose Mother has died but author Stephen May has voiced Billy with uncommon clarity.

The two brother’s home life becomes a blend of unscheduled lives, unsuitable film watching, and uneaten healthy food stacked in the freezer whilst they dine on takeaway. When well-meaning relatives, teachers and Government bodies question Billy’s ability to care for his little brother he must add ‘fighting the establishment’ to his list of duties.

There is, also, the smouldering mystery of the missing killer’s life, as Billy’s paranoia of his whereabouts grows, and we are offered a glimpse into what makes a criminal. Events are not neat or expected and an extraordinary ending will literally take your breath away.

Whilst the tag for the book claims it is funny, bittersweet, unforgettable; a story of grief, resilience and brotherly love, that is not the whole story. It is probably the most intriguing book I’ve read in a long time. Put it at the very top of your ‘to read’ list.

Visit http://anadventureinreading.blogspot.com.au/ for more reviews & author interviews. ( )

This is a very interesting look at what it means to be an adult and a parent. Billy is 19 when his mother in killed in a mugging; his brother, Oscar, is six. Billy loves Oscar and wants to take care of him. Being 19, this isn't something anyone rejects out of hand -- Billy is considered an adult. But is he?

Billy is really still a kid himself; a kid who is dealing with the death of his mother. He isn't a great housekeeper...he isn't great at maintaining a routine or getting Oscar to school. But the adults in the book didn't seem to excell at parenting either: both Billy's and Oscar's fathers were absent.

As we watch Billy struggle to hold on to Oscar and to deal with the loss of his Mum, we watch a young man on the verge of adulthood struggle with the meaning of family.

The book is often funny...the author has a sharp wit and a good eye for social normes. I enjoyed this book. ( )

Das Festhalten an ihrem Netbook wird Billys Mutter zum Verhängnis: Der Räuber gibt nicht nach, und Ms Smith bezahlt ihre Sturheit mit dem Leben. Billy ist 19 und mit dem Tod seiner Mutter wird er sehr rasch erwachsen. Zusammen mit seinem kleinen Halbbruder Oscar versucht er, ein gemeinsames Leben im Haus seiner Mutter einzurichten und gleichzeitig sein eigenes Leben in den Griff zu bekommen. Stephen May rührt an vielen aktuellen sozialen Themen und webt die unterschiedlichen Handlungsstränge zu einem spannenden, rührenden, nachdenklich machenden und immer wieder heiteren Ganzen. Weil das Geld knapp wird, negiert Billy alle Rechnungen in der Hoffnung, dass die Firmen ihm und seinem Bruder nicht Strom und Wasser abdrehen. Als Billy von einer Bande junger Teenager mit dem Messer bedroht wird, rettet ihn eine Schulbekanntschaft, die mittlerweile als Lehrerin in die Stadt zurückgekehrt ist. Billy kämpft gegen seine Tante, die eine Beziehung mit Oscars Vater beginnt, der sich wiederum sechs Jahre lang nicht um seinen Sohn gekümmert hat, nun aber Besitzansprüche stellt. Dazu kommen Billys altersspezfische Probleme mit sich selbst und die ständige (vermeintliche) Notwendigkeit, seinen Bruder und sich gegenüber der Verwandtschaft, den Behörden und der Umwelt im allgemeinen zu verteidigen. Alles in allem ein wirklich lesenswertes Buch. ( )

Full review on Reader's Dialogue: http://readersdialogue.blogspot.com/2012/10/life-death-prizes.html

Billy is so confused. That's what hit me right from the start. He tries so hard to put up a brave face, to act like he has all the answers. That beard - he forgets to shave and then ends up liking his beard. I think it serves a double purpose - it makes him feel more like an adult, but at the same time, it hides him from the world. When he finally shaves it, he feels different, and I got the impression that he felt naked, exposed. His face was once again discernible. And all along, he's trying to hide behind a facade, pretending to be someone and something he's not. With Lucy, he's not attracted to her so much as he is attracted to what she represents, and that is the confidence that he so utterly lacks. He knows one thing: he loves Oscar and wants to protect him. But he has no idea what that even means. He learns things along the way, sure, but Billy is really just an old adolescent.

That's something about the book that I found really interesting. In England, a nineteen-year-old can buy beer for kids. In England, a nineteen-year-old is seen as an adult. In America, some things that happen in the story would never be able to happen simply because of the difference in the way Americans versus the British see teenagers. It's really a question of what a kid is, what an adult is, when that change happens, and who has the right to say when it is. Aunt Toni obviously feels that Billy is not quite an adult yet, but Billy feels he is, and the courts don't dismiss him right off the bat, so they at least consider the option that he could be a responsible adult. That's part of why the book is sort-of New Adult, sort of just plain adult, because Billy acts like an adult but thinks like a teenager most of the time. I don't think the question is answered in the book, it's just an interesting thing to think about.

There's really a lot to think about in this book, and I'm not going to go through each point. It's a poignant look at family and responsibility, told with pathos and wit. ( )

19 year old Billy Smith's mum was knocked to the ground and killed in a street robbery gone wrong. Billy is left to look after his 6 year old brother, Oscar, and try and cope with all that life is throwing at him now his mum isn't around.

This is a touching story of a teenage lad's struggle to care for Oscar on his own. You can tell that he's making mistakes even though he thinks he's doing great, but as the reader I found myself wanting him to succeed. This book also has its funny bits, as Billy tells the story himself and he has quite a sarcastic tone of voice that made me smile and laugh out loud at stages. The title of the book relates to the kind of magazines that feature Life! Death! Prizes! as something on the cover to draw people in, and inside there are bizarre tales that seem to be made up they are so odd. Billy uses them as a way of rationalising what happened to his own mother, sort of a way of seeing how mundane it was. His relationship with Oscar is lovely and he really does try to make it work.

I really enjoyed this story. It's very contemporary in style and kind of raw. It's very well written too and drew me right into Billy and Oscar's world. ( )