Book Review: White Rabbit Red Wolf by Tom Pollock

Title: White Rabbit, Red Wolf
Author: Tom Pollock
Publisher: Walker Books
Release Date: 3rd May 2018

Synopsis: Seventeen-year-old Peter Blankman is a maths prodigy. He also suffers from severe panic attacks. Afraid of everything, he finds solace in the orderly and logical world of mathematics and in the love of his family: his scientist mum and his tough twin sister Bel, as well as Ingrid, his only friend. However, when his mother is found stabbed before an award ceremony and his sister is nowhere to be found, Pete is dragged into a world of espionage and violence where state and family secrets intertwine. Armed only with his extraordinary analytical skills, Peter may just discover that his biggest weakness is his greatest strength.

Review: You know when you pick up a book and you think you know what you're getting. You start reading and you think yep, I hit the nail on the head and then the book picks you up, shakes you, turns you 180 and dumps you down again. That was White Rabbit Red Wolf. This statement is not a lie. It was everything that everyone had described it to me as, but also much more!

One of the great things that we're seeing in YA literature, especially over the last few years, is the opening up of topics that we have previously considered taboo, or that haven't been the front and center they needed to be. As an author Tom is very open and vocal about his own mental health, so to have Peter's mental heath so open and prevalent in a book and in an honest way from the first page, opening up the discussion and giving representation to those who may not understand or feel talking about such issues is both brave and important.

Now I remember sitting in maths GCSE classes and thinking i'm never going to need Pythagoras after the end of this year and  I was extremely glad to be able to drop the subject when I got to A-Level. SO who'd have thought I'd be ranting and raving about a book where maths plays a vital part. Maths, whether we like to admit it or not, is all round us, but for some of us like Peter it affects us even more so and plays an important part in our lives. But If someone could fix that unsolvable maths problem them we'd all be much better off cheers and thanks.  But it was so much more than just being about number and algorithms it was about the unique connection that brought maths and life together and tried to help him understand who he was and it was beautifully woven into the text bringing moments of excitement, but also sadness and tension.  

Then you have all the high velocity action...Alex rider meets Jason Bourne, meets Kick-Ass. It was intense and very visual, and as is my way it had me shouting out as I read it. You would in no way want to cross Bel, day or night, she was one tough cookie and it all just helped to build up the mystery of everything, where you start to loose grip on the reality of everything. 

Peter was such a fantastic character, he was broken and trying to find his place in the world and how, that which made him different, could be understood and potentially cured... and then having to use this to be everything he never thought he could be.This is something I think we have all felt in some kind of way. He didn't get an easy ride of it either with the amount of twists and turns this book threw at me. 

The book was build in this great double helix like structure, feeding you information and then going back and filling in the blanks, but so much more than that, peeling back the layers of what you thought you understood and constantly giving you something new. EVERYTHING IS A LIE! WHAT CAN I EVEN BELIEVE ANYMORE! Any book prefaced with 'This story is a lie' will get me going and get my mind whizzing. I think one of the best things about my mind (I say best but also mean worst) is that I can never see whats coming, so when you get a book like this it keeps you locked in end to end on a roller-coaster of a ride. Until the very.last.page! This made it exciting, you were constantly thinking and questioning and then getting wrapped up in the action...and then on top of that it was funny! The planning that this must have taken, and then the skill to weave it all together. It was full of pace, both in those moments that were nice and stretched out and explores and the tense moments that gave it that quick pace so you're flying through. 

This might have been Tom's first foray into YA, but I'm here for it and I'm looking forward for what's to come!

23-17-11-54 

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