Trash

Trash
By Andy Mulligan

Raphael is an ordinary boy, well ordinary for someone who lives on the side of a trash heap. He spents all day, every day, searching for anything valuable amongst other people's rubbish that he can sell and make just enough money to get buy on. One day he finds something, a bag with a wallet inside, a little money, and some seemingly random items. However, when the police turn up looking for a bag of the same description, Raphael knows he has found something extraordinary. Together with his friends Gardo and Rat, he follows the trail of clues left behind, all the time chased by the police as they race to find what is hidden at the end...

I thought the plot was brilliant for this book, and I love how everything fits together like a jigsaw. It was difficult to predict what was going to happen next and I was constantly wondering what was going to happen. Everything all makes sense at the end, and I love how such a simple trail seems so clever and complex when the clues are a mystery. The only part that I was disappointed to was what happened to the characters at the very end in Chapter 6 of Part 5 - I thought it seemed too good to be true and too unrealistic. If Mulligan had finished a chapter earlier and still kept the Appendix, I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more. That being said, I loved what happened in Chapter 5, Part 5, and I thought it was a brilliant way to tie up the narrative - if only it had finished there!

The characters were all excellent and each had their own personality and a certain feistiness that made them very likeable. I thought the relationship between Raphael and Gardo was very realistic and convincing, especially how one was dominant over the other - exactly how two boys who are practically brothers should be.

The writing was also very believable, and Mulligan's choice of so many narrative voices was a huge risk but it definitely paid off. Each voice is completely unique and easily recognisable, and together they complement each other and help to build up a more three dimensional picture for the reader. In many books I sometimes wonder what the other characters are thinking, so it was brilliant to be able to get into almost every single character's mind at the key moments and understand how and why they act as they do.

Overall I thought this book was excellent and despite my disappointment at the end, I loved so many aspects of it.

Rachel, Yr 12